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midori-laboratories · 1 year

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Frozen Ashes: Chapter 5 - Sanguine Standard V

Book 3 of The Calendula Chronicles.

Story synopsis: Albert Wesker molded his captive into the perfect, pliable bait for taking out Rockfort Island's paramilitary facility, and cracking open the Ashford family’s secrets. But who’s really in control, once chaos breaks out?

The stakes have never been higher for Marigold, but she may not be fast enough to save everyone.

Book 3 of the Calendula Chronicles series. Written as the other side of The Antarctica Incident.

Chapter summary: Marigold comes to her senses, and realizes she's being observed.

Author's note: Don McNally is an original character from Q.Alias' The Antarctica Incident. We'll be seeing more of him.

Moments earlier…

Marigold jumped down from the roof of the building, letting go of the mental ‘lead’ she’d been pulling the Tyrant away by. With any luck, it would keep going in that direction to whatever other targets it had.

Overhead a murder of crows had begun to coalesce, wheeling and screaming. The virus had even made its way into them.

The soft haze settled back down over her as her heart rate slowed, as the adrenaline receded. There was a strange sense of something familiar. It felt almost like when she had ‘reached’ out to Kate in Raccoon City…except this was a muddied sense of an awareness that she could only observe, but not connect to. Not infected. That subtle paralimbic mutation that would have brought on wasn’t a part of this. But exposed, somehow.

It felt like the roses. That strange, mutated breed of roses which had grown out of her out clumsiness when Poppy had tried to shoo her out of the house and find something to occupy herself with, back in 1970. A small, stony ruin across the moor, back near the woods had been the perfect little refuge back in the day. She’d accidentally infected the roses with her virus - back when she was more virulent, she supposed, as Alexander had never explained why he’d later decided to lift distancing rules in the his own house after several years.

The virus that had originated in the original Sonnetroppe blooms had been a fragile thing, in its own way. Through the filter of her blood, this variant grew aggressively within the little shelter of the ruin. Enough so that she had managed to bring Alexander samples to transplant and study. If nothing else, it reduced their dependence on Bailey’s operation should their access to the mother virus be cut off.

Those roses were likely what had trained her senses to perceive the virus in the first place, if she had to guess. This felt like them, but more…

Oh.

This felt like it had when one of the local youths back home would sneak into the garden, looking for a ‘secret’ place to smoke and sit with their friends. Incidents like that had sparked her requests to Alexander to study the plants, in order to develop emergency medication to keep at the house; the roses had subtle hunger to them, and the toxins they emitted would ensnare the unwary.

Oh.

Bubbling under it was a growing anxiety that did not originate with her. This was more of a frantic mania, barely holding it together.

There was a very, very short list of people who had access to both this place and the transplanted second garden in the Antarctica lab.

Oh, she so very much wanted to be wrong about this, but ignoring her instinct had cost her too much in the past.

A zombie wandered too close to her and she startled, snapping from her reverie to swat the creature away. She wasn’t metering her strength, and the thing crashed into the nearest wall, then began to struggle back to its feet.

Oh, god, they were everywhere. Marigold took a steadying breath to center herself and pushed lightly. They began to give her a little more space. It was enough to let her find her breath again and push her hood back to let herself be cooled by the night air. The patch on the back of her shoulder itched, so she reached back under her collar to peel it from her skin. She wanted to chuck the thing into the dirt. Pragmatism won out - she really didn’t know what they’d been giving her, not exactly - and she tucked the cursed little thing into her pocket, even as that distant sense of anxiety sharpened -

Someone was watching her.

Marigold looked around, senses sharpening, fighting her way back up through the haze. She couldn’t afford to falter now, not in this moment. A surveillance camera was affixed to a post by the side of the path, its red light blinking. That distant anxiety began to hit a fever pitch -

This is what they wanted, she realized. Alfred would see her and rush out, only to be caught. What would happen next…

He’d try to protect his sister’s secret. He’d refuse to negotiate.

He’d die.

Her signs were loose and unsteady, but it was a language she and the twins had grown in fluency in as a group. They were a little better at it than her, she remembered, using it as a secret language between themselves and the other boy who had grown up alongside them.

Crow?

The distant sense of anxiety stilled. It was Alfred. It was like watching a deer freeze out in the open, still deciding whether it should take flight. Running now would almost certainly doom him. Crow, don’t come. It’s a trap.

Marigold raised her wrist to show the maglocked tracker binding her, tapping it for emphasis. Wesker would be tracking her. If Alfred failed to take the bait immediately, Wesker would undoubtedly roust her from whatever hiding spot she found in order to smoke Alfred out. She looked sharply back at the camera. She took a breath, then said it again, her movements sharpening. It is a trap.

Wait. Watch.

It’s a trap I can break.

----------

Steve Burnside and Claire Redfield found cover at the edge of the airfield, and took a moment to catch their breath. “It looks clear,” Steve offered.

Claire’s face was grim. “That usually doesn’t mean much. At least we have keys, but it feels like an ambush. I’d rather not run straight through until we have to.”

Steve frowned, but he’d finally learned to trust Claire’s instincts. She was the one who knew how these fuckers operated, anyhow. “Did you know that guy back there? WIth the sunglasses. He seemed to know you.”

Claire sighed. “I think he worked with my brother. You know, in STARS? He turned on them.” She frowned. “I heard that he died. My brother saw the body and everything.”

“Moved pretty fucking fast for a dead guy,” Steve replied.

Somewhere in the course of their escape, Claire had begun to learn the subtle line between Steve’s snarky jabs and his attempts at camaraderie. She nodded with a wry smirk. “Lucky us, he got distracted, I guess. I think I need to warn my brother once we’re off this rock. I feel like we’ve wandered into the middle of a war.”

The sound of crows was coming back, and Claire glanced up. They were wheeling and swarming up above them, but they paid the survivors no mind. Their foci seemed to be a forty-foot wall on the edge of the facility. Some sort of construction had been started there, and for some reason, left unfinished.

Steve followed her gaze. “I saw that on the map. It’s an old training course. They don’t use it so much anymore, but the guards would talk about the really good USS guys who’d managed to finish it. Tetanus shots all around, but it was a big deal.” Steve wiped blood from his nose. “Whatever’s drawing them there is behind a lot of rusty girders. Definitely not our problem.”

Claire let her gaze linger a moment longer. Something like that was usually the prelude to something really bad breaking out, but…no. Steve’s sense of self-preservation was on the money here. Those soldiers had stirred something up. They, or Umbrella, could deal with it.

All they could do now was avoid becoming collateral damage. And this weird little calm before a storm was likely what they needed to do so, and escape.

Claire took a deep breath and nodded to Steve. “Let’s get out of here.”

----------

December 27, 1998 - A jerry-rigged control room in the Antarctica facility

Don McNally, a broad, muscular bearded man in his late fifties with hair more gray than red these days, watched the radar in the makeshift command center he had sequestered for his own use over the past two months- ever since access to the BOW level had all but fallen into his hands. Spencer had assigned him to keep an eye on the place back in the late seventies, and he’d made a niche for himself as a competent engineering hand down in maintenance, who knew when to step out of the way. As a Monitor, it wasn’t his job to be a damned hero. His job was to watch, and wait for the moment when Oswell Spencer decided what to do with the bloody place.

When Grayson Harmon had come back - fifteen years had turned the skinny lad into a goddamned linebacker - it had seemed like a sort of shift change. Scott Harmon, the sour old git, had finally had enough of Ashford’s bullshit - gotten too old for it, at any rate. His son had managed to claw his way out of the wreckage of Raccoon City, only to come back here.

Familiarity was a hell of a drug, sometimes. He’d been a lonely kid with a healthy dose of “fuck-you energy” completely typical of a teenager, and had been utterly guileless back in the day. Raccoon City had hollowed him out, but he was just as susceptible to the “friendly Scotsman” bit as ever.

Don had a skeleton key to the BOW wing, and had made himself a cozy little nest to keep an eye on the facility since the late young Doctor Ashford had choked on her own ambitions, following the rest of her kin into the dark. Alfred, for some fucking reason, had clung to familiarity and grown steadily crazier by the year. Grayson had seen the writing on the wall and gotten the fuck out, as far as Don could tell, at the tender age of fifteen, proving that in a house full of geniuses, the tender little meathead had more sense than the rest of them combined. He’d heard that both boys had been shipped back to England for schooling for a time, but only the little sadist had come back.

But now Grayson was back, and the ghosts of puppy love had turned him into a better skeleton key than anything he could have made himself. Alexia Ashford’s old keycard - full access to the facility - was stowed safely in his vest pocket. Back in November, he had accompanied the man down to a stasis chamber and got a shock: Alexia Ashford lay comatose, sleeping within the hibernaculum in the center of the room in a tangle of wires, and the liquified pEpislion fluid - his primary goal at the time - which seemed to be keeping her both sedated, and probably alive.

Her T-Veronica work hadn’t crashed and burned quite as hard as Alfred had let on, then. No wonder the little cunt had never shut the place down. It was clear that Grayson himself had never been let in on the big secret.

Don had brought Grayson food, some beer, and a little extra reading material. The man had been so adamant against leaving the lass again, braindead as she very likely was, that he’d hardly seemed to notice being locked in down there with a few rations until the deed had been done.

He’d been down there for almost two months now.

Shame, really. The Antarctica facility was a grim place, and the lad had been good for a drink and a laugh after a long shift.

Planes and boats had been coming in for the last few days. The radio had reported a dustup on Rockfort Island. Alfred had thrown everything he’d had at an invading force - some rival outfit, it seemed. One that operated with the same sort of deep intel he had, with deeper pockets to back it up.

He wondered how Zinoviev was doing these days. The Russian had done a tour with him to learn the ropes of Monitor work, years ago. The last he’d been in touch with the mad lad was a few days before Raccoon City. Zinoviev had taken a hard look at the situation and had just entertained a ‘most interesting sales pitch’ to something incredibly lucrative. The man had gone silent since the event…but really, that meant almost nothing.

Someone big was hitting Umbrella’s paramilitary operation. From the radio reports, they’d released more than bullets. If the guards were stupid enough to let them in (and they almost certainly were), then this facility was running on borrowed time.

The time to jump ship had come, Don mused to himself as he reached for the radio. The real trick would be to keep Oswell Spencer’s finger off the trigger before his ride could come to collect.

Patting the keycard once again, Don thought he might just have an idea to hold the old man’s attention.

#frozen ashes #calendula chronicles #marigold ashford #albert wesker x oc

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askyourfavouriteotp · 4 years

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“Hot Pink.”

“Hot Pink? Really?”

“It is a very hot color, Steve. Sexy.”

“Well, if you say so... I would probably go with yellow.”

“What? Why?”

“Because it is a cheerful color. Like sunflowers.”

“We are not taking about cheerful, we are talking about sexy.”

“You are sexy enough for both of us. With or without nail polish.”

“Good answer. Even if I know you just said it to shut me up.”

#stony #steve rogers #tony stark #SUPERHUSBANDS #stony is back for one day v 5

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biggest-stupidhead · 3 years

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Bad Timing (Levi x Reader) Part 5

Summary: How do you tell your friends that you’re falling for your big brother’s best friend?

Work Count: 6.3K

You were angry. Of course Levi had to go and stir the pot right before the holiday season. The time of year when he spent the most of his hours at your home. Even though he spent most of his time at your house throughout the whole year, this amount of time typically doubled through the months of October through December. The remaining weeks in October were the worst. You both expertly avoided one another, Petra and Levi continued to see each other exclusively. This turned out to be bittersweet for you, the pros were that Levi was busy trying to please Petra to spend too much time at your house. But also it stung to see him with her, even though you had no right to feel jealous.

The two weeks after your kiss, you spent holed up in your room, your phone set on do not disturb. After binging Gossip Girls and all of the classic Disney movies, you finally decided that instead of focusing on romance, you would devote yourself to school. Thankfully you weren't the only person that favored school over social gatherings, you found yourself spending countless hours in the school's musty library with Armin. He was so easy to get along with, down to earth, kind, and most importantly, he was too shy to ask you about anything too personal. Today was one of those days, it was nearing the end of November, the trees had shed their leaves, bearing the naked bark. And the weather was constantly changing. Some days it would snow, others it would pour rain, but that was just the midwest for you. Glancing up from the textbook that had held your attention for the past two hours, your were pleased to see a flurry of fat snowflakes spiraling downwards. The window had frost creeping up from the corners, thank God, maybe the weather would finally settle and allow the snow to stick for once. You could feel Armin staring at you, his eyes piercing the back of your skull. a feeling you had become familiar with. Turning back to face him, he averted his eyes, a comforting pink creeping onto his cheeks with the embarrassment of being caught.

"It's really coming down huh?" you tried to initiate some light small talk.

"Yeah! Hopefully it will stick." Armin responded, a nervous chuckle slipping past his lips as he returned his attention back to his homework. You hummed, glancing back down at the yellowing pages of the old history textbook, a frown marring your features.

"What's wrong? Need some help?" Armin asked, standing up from his seat and coming to stand behind you.

"Oh, well I guess I'm just confused about this law." you pulled the response from your ass. Of course you understood Roe v. Wade, you just didn't want to tell Armin that you were ready to leave. He always made this face that reminded you of a puppy that just got drop kicked.

"Roe v. Wade huh? I can help you with that no problem!" his baby blue eyes lit up, he pulled the nearest chair up to the table, the legs loudly scratching against the rickety library floors.

"Great, thanks!" you tried to sound excited, and you tried even harder to focus on Armin's summary of Roe v. Wade.

"Easy right?" Armin chirped, his finger hovering over the paragraph that explained the law.

"You're right, I think that I just need a break. My brain feels fried." you moaned, folding your arms across the desk and burying your head in your arms.

"Likewise." Armin agreed, dragging his chair closer to yours not very subtly.

"Want to go grab a coffee?" you asked, barely lifting your head to glance at him.

"Sure." he beamed, his innocent face completely lighting up. Your library had a small coffee shop nestled in the back, the cafe was run by students who had free periods. Granted the coffee wasn't the best, but it still did the job. You thanked the girl behind the counter as she passed you your steaming cup of dark liquid. Armin was rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet as he waited for his order, you busied yourself with mixing in sugar and some creamer. Finally the barista gave Armin his latte and the two of you meandered back to your corner. You slowly began packing your things, hoping that Armin would get the hint and you would be able to escape the stuffy library. Armin noticed, you closed the book with a sigh and began stuffing pens and other writing utensils into your small pencil case.

"Ready to call it a day?" Armin asked his lips hovering over the steaming hot coffee.

"Yeah, I told Hange that I would be ready to leave by the time she finished with Science Olympiad." you sighed, gathering the assortment of books that you had pulled from the shelves getting up to return them to their rightful places.

"Oh gotcha, same time Thursday?" He asked hopefully, his light blue eyes meeting yours. You clicked your tongue and grimaced, shooting him an apologetic look.

"Ah I would but my mom has Thursday off so I was going to have dinner with her." you explained, watching Armin get that kicked puppy look, that look always had a way of making your heart hurt.

"Aw well have fun!" he waved you off, the sad look on his face replaced with a small forced smile.

"Thanks Armin, I'll see you in Chem tomorrow." you smiled sweetly at him as you turned to leave.

"Bye!" he waved goodbye to you as you pulled the large door open and slipped out. Sparing a glance at your watch you sighed, Hange should be done in the next 5 minutes. But knowing her she would take another 20 minutes to wrap up her Science Olympiad meeting. So you leisurely strolled down the empty stone corridor, your eyes trained on the large windows that lined the hallway and overlooked the courtyard. The library was on the second floor, which gave you a perfect view of the school grounds. The snow seemed to be falling faster now, the flakes were beginning to stick to the blades of grass, giving the lawn a patchy appearance. Hopefully Hange had remembered her snow scraper, surely the car would have a coating of frost on the windows by now. It would not be the first time that the two of you had to scrape ice from her windows using your credit cards or your school ids.

You turned your attention back to the stony corridor, you had almost reached the stairs. You began your descent, a hand loosely gliding down the cold stone banister. Your mind drifted to thoughts of what Erwin's plans were for this evening, did he plan to eat dinner with you? Or would he run off with Hange as he had been doing for the past week or so? You had noticed that the pair had been spending more time alone as of late, and you couldn't blame them. Erwin was already committed to Notre Dame, a prestigious school known for football and extraordinary academics. Hange had recently been accepted into Princeton, one of the eight ivy league schools, and she was ecstatic. This however means that they will attending schools in different states. You knew that they planned to continue dating despite the distance, personally you were a tad skeptical of long distance relationships, but you knew that they were both mature enough to continue seeing each other.

You paused on the landing between floors, the sound of laughter was echoing off the stoney walls.

"That was a dirty move Kirstein!" you recognized Eren's agitated voice, which was closely followed by the hearty laughter of Conny and Marco.

"Pay closer attention next time Jeager." Jean teased, a smile spread across your lips at the sound of your friends. Their presence motivated you to jog down the remaining stairs and turn the corner. Just at you poked your head around the corner your eyes landed on the group of boys walking towards you.

"Oi (Y/n)! Where's Armin?" Eren called out to you first and you waved.

"Still in the library." you jabbed your thumb back towards the stairs behind you.

"Classic." Conny sniggered as he adjusted his duffle bag on his shoulder. You pursed your lips as you took in their uniforms. They wore soccer jerseys and shorts, a matching set of forest green, the school crest, a pair of wings one blue and one white, rested above their left breast over their hearts.

"Indoor soccer?" you asked, nodding towards the ball tucked under Marco's arm. The boy nodded and tossed you the ball.

"Season just started." he stated proudly, you easily caught the ball and smiled at him. Marco was your age, but you didn't usually spend time with him outside of school. The two of you had grown close the year prior when you had been in the same gym class, but since then you hadn't spoken very much.

"How exciting." you murmured as you gripped the ball in your hands. The boys nodded and you tossed the ball back to Marco.

"What are you doing here so late?" Jean asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Studying for the Government test with Armin." you shrugged, tucking your hands in your pockets. Things had been tense in your friend group since you and Jean had began casually seeing one another. The two of you had gone out on a handful of dates over the past month, all of them enjoyable. But you knew you didn't want a full blown relationship, something you still needed to tell Jean.

"Ah gotcha. So will you be coming to Sasha's friendsgiving party this weekend?" Jean inquired, his eyes shined with a glint of hope.

"Oh, I almost forgot about that! Yeah I'll be there." you smiled, a rush of excitement running through you when you remembered the invitation you had received earlier this week.

"What are you bringing?" Conny butted in, licking his lips. You hummed thoughtfully, what would you bring?

"Maybe macaroni and cheese? Or a pie?" You thought aloud as you lifted a hand to cup your chin. Conny groaned and grabbed your shoulder.

"Pie, please for the love of God bring your pie." he begged, his hand squeezing your shoulder. You giggled at this eagerness, and nodded. Pies were easy enough to bake, and if that's what people wanted then you would be more than happy to deliver.

"Thank you thank you thank you-" Conny shook you as he thanked you profusely, Eren snarled and tugged the two of you apart, while Marco and Jean laughed.

"Knock it off baldy." he hissed as he tossed Conny back. You chuckled and waved your hands dismissively.

"I'd better go, Hange should be done soon." you sighed, your eyes straying to the nearest window, you gasped. The snow was coming down in thick swirls, the sun had dipped below the horizon, making it difficult to see much through the snow.

"Oh wow, that's a lot of snow!" Marco exclaimed as he turned to follow your gaze. Jean let out a low whistle, Conny squealed excitedly.

"Yeah I better get going." you called over your shoulder as you made a break for the west wing, which was where the senior parking lot was located. The halls were dark, you only crossed paths with one janitor who didn't even glance up at you. You paused at the door at the end of the hallway and squinted out into the blizzard. The parking lot was dark, a clear indicator that Hange had not arrived to warm up the car before you.

"Ah there you are, perfect timing!" Hange's booming voice startled you as it echoed through the empty hall.

"Oh Hange, thank God, please tell me you have your scraper." you fretted, Hange grimaced, giving you an apologetic smile.

"Yeah about that..." she muttered, her hand rubbing the back of her neck. You groaned and reached into your backpack for your wallet. You fished out your drivers license and your credit card and turned back to the snowy parking lot.

"Better get started then." you grumbled, Hange laughed anxiously and moved to open the door for the both of you.

"Right."

___

You flexed your raw fingers by the vents as they blasted hot air into the cabin of the car. Hange was rubbing her hands together furiously and blowing hot air on her own frigid fingers.

"For the love of God, just keep the scraper in the car year round." you moaned as you slid your id back into your wallet.

"Might be a good idea actually." Hange stuttered between the chattering of her teeth. You huffed, tucking your hands underneath your thighs in an attempt to regain the feeling in your hands. Hange shifted the gear to drive and slowly pulled the car out of the parking lot, the wipers squeaking against the glass as they swiped the relentless snow off of the windshield.

"So, what do you want for dinner kiddo?" she gushed, her coppery eyes glinting mischievously.

"I dunno, something hot." you jabbed back, shifting on your hands.

"Whole gangs going to be there!" Hange prodded, clearly attempting to get a reaction from you.

"Great, who's cooking?" you taunted, shooting her a smile to show that you meant well.

"Oh well I guess Nanaba could." Hange mused, pleased with your good natured jabs.

"Great I'm starving." you leaned back and closed your eyes. Hange chuckled and turned her eyes back to the dark road ahead.

The drive took longer than usual due to the heavy snowfall. The roads were slick with the fresh snow, which stuck stubbornly to the road due to the lack of traffic on the country roads. But you made it to your house without a hitch. Erwin's minivan was already covered in a layer of snow, and Levi's BMW was untouched, Mike and Nanaba had not yet arrived. Hange parked and the two of you quickly gathered your belongings and walked briskly to the front door. You kicked your feet on the mat before entering, the foyer already a bit wet due to snow being tracked in on shoes. You peeled off your shoes with Hange and carried your things upstairs, Hange following close behind. Hange slipped into Erwin's room while you dropped your bag in your own room. You hadn't seen your brother or his short friend yet which was odd, they usually hung out in the kitchen. You met Hange back in the hall, her glasses, which had fogged up when you had entered the house were perched atop of her auburn hair.

"Where are they?" you asked bluntly as you watched her scrub the spectacles with the hem of her sweater.

"Beats me, let's go make some soup or something." Hange shrugged, holding her glasses up to the light to inspect the lenses. So you jogged down the stairs and began pawing through the pantry through the abundance of canned goods. You frowned at the cream of mushroom soup and set it back into the pile before refocusing.

"Heyyy now we're talking!" Hange crooned, you turned to see her pulling out a frozen pizza from the depths of your freezer. You scoffed before turning back to the pantry, a frown settling on your features.

"How about tomato soup and grilled cheese?" you offered as you pulled out two cans of tomato soup and a loaf of bread. Hange shrugged and tossed the pizza back into the freezer, she then opened the fridge and pulled out an assortment of cheese. The two of you fell into your effortless rhythm Hange stirred the soup while you began to cook the sandwiches. Finally the front door banged open, Levi's combat boots squeaking as he walked into the house, he haphazardly kicked off the shoes and stalked into the kitchen and straight into the living room. You raised your eyebrows in surprise as you watched him walk through the house, his arms full with kindling. Erwin followed closely behind, his arms also full of firewood. So that's where the pair had been. Hange fawned over them, greeting Erwin by dusting off bits of bark from his coat before turning to pat Levi's head. Levi swatted her sticky hands off of his head and glared at her menacingly.

"Hands off four eyes." Levi hissed, he ducked expertly underneath her arm and fled to the kitchen where you were flipping a grilled cheese. Erwin and Hange began the chore of lighting the fire while you took on the task of cooking as per usual. Levi frowned at the sight of the damp foyer and turned on his heel to grab the mop. You smiled at the sight of him mopping the floor despite the fact that people were still on their way and it would only end up messy again. Sure enough, just as Levi tossed the dirty water out of the front door and tucked the mop back in the closet, Mike and Nanaba strutted in, arms full of assorted baked goods and board games.

"Hey everybody! Hope we didn't miss anything!" Nanaba trilled as she tracked more snow into the front room. Levi heaved a sigh as he turned to grab the mop, you chuckled and took the container of cookies from her arms so she could take off her jacket. Mike nodded at you as he strolled into the living room where Hange and Erwin were still fumbling to light the fire wood.

"No, we actually only just got home about thirty minutes ago." you assured the blonde as she joined you in the kitchen. She smiled as she watched Mike kneel down to join Erwin and Hange as they blew on the small embers.

"What games did you guys bring?" you attempted to make small talk as you turned back to the task at hand.

"Oh the usuals, Sequence, Candy Land, Clue, etcetera." she waved a hand dismissively as she turned to stir the soup.

"Sounds fun!" you exclaimed as you tossed another sandwich on the plate. Nanaba hummed in response as she smiled stupidly into the soup. You pursed your lips and cocked your head as you studied her.

"Not to be that person but...Have you picked a school yet?" you asked with a small chuckle. She nodded,

"Yeah actually, just picked two days ago!" she beamed, turning to face you once more.

"Wow really?"

"Yeah! I'm going to attend Michigan State University with Mike!" she gushed as she set the spoon off to the side with a clang.

"That's great! Michigan is beautiful, and that's an awesome school." you matched her excitement and dumped the final sandwich on the plate and switched the stove off.

"Thanks! We're super excited." her words were so sweet and filled with love it made you feel sick. You nodded and turned to grab plates and bowls for everyone. Nanaba and Mike had only started dating about a month prior, in fact they had admitted their affections to one another back in October at your house. In a way you envied their effortless relationship, despite only dating for a month they made a great pair. You served yourself and moved to sit at the island in the kitchen. A cheer from the living room told you that the trio had finally ignited the fire, shortly after they piled into the kitchen and began to dish food onto their plates. Levi once again stuffed the mop and bucket back into the closet and feverishly washed his hands before serving himself. As he reached for a grilled cheese the sleeve of his hoodie scrunched up, revealing a new tattoo on his left wrist. Your jaw dropped momentarily, the sight of the fresh ink shocking you. In fact it was so fresh that the skin around the ink was still red and a bit swollen, glistening with the salve. He rounded the island and dropped into the stool to your left, and your eyes went straight to his wrist.

"Fresh ink?" you asked, propping your chin on the heel of your hand as you watched him bring the spoon to his mouth.

"Yeah." he replied, not bothering to elaborate.

"Can I see?" you pressed, Levi shot you a glare as he bit into his sandwich but still lifted his hand for you to pull his sleeve up. You gingerly tugged his sleeve up and a tiny 'awe' escaped your lips. The drawing was extremely minimalistic, the delicate black ink contrasting beautifully with his pale skin tone. It was a small tea cup, with a chip in its rim. Levi scoffed and tugged his arm back.

"That's a good one Levi." you gushed as you turned back to your own meal.

"Thanks." he grumbled as he looked everywhere but your face.

"Where do you get them done?" you asked before taking a huge bite of your sandwich.

"WitchHammer." he grunted, his patience growing thin. All of these questions reminded him of a particular brunette. You hummed in response as you entertained the idea of getting a tattoo for your 16th birthday that was coming up in the next couple of months. You already had an appointment at the shop to get your forward helix pierced on your left ear. The others were getting rowdy on the other side of the island, too engrossed in their conversation to notice the side conversation Levi and you were engaging in.

"Did it hurt?" you quizzed feeling a bit playful. You had missed Levi's bluntness and his shitty sense of humor.

"I would be lying if I said no." he retorted, his sharp eyes catching yours for the first time in weeks. You chuckled and nodded as you chewed your food.

"You think that I would look good with a couple tattoos?" you giggled, smiling broadly at the raven haired boy. He clicked his tongue and turned to take you in, his eyes raking over your form. Finally his eyes settled on your hands, his brows pinched together in thought as he stared.

"Personally...I like minimalistic designs, you could probably pull off some finger tats or hand tats." he mused, you glanced at your hands, interesting. You held your hands up to the light to get a better look and began to think of some small designs that you might be interested in.

"Tattoos are a big commitment, don't just get some stupid shit." Levi lectured as he lifted his cup of tea to his lips, you frowned he was one to talk.

"I know." you decided that tonight wasn't the time to argue with him, especially since this was the first time spending time together in weeks. He nodded but kept a skeptical eye on you as you folded your hands onto your lap and turned to listen to the other conversation. You frowned when you realized they were just talking about prom, awkward. So you decided to clean up, the exhaustion of the long day seemed to hit you like a truck and all you could think about was your bed and all of the work that was due on Sunday. You washed up quickly and waved weakly before trudging up the stairs, thankfully the others didn't seem to care that you were calling it a night early. You changed into a pair of flannel pjs and an old ACDC shirt that had seen better days. You sank into your old desk chair and flicked on the small lamp, you rummaged through your back pack and pulled out your laptop and a notebook. Sparing a glance at the small alarm clock you groaned, it was already well past nine o'clock.

You decided to pick up from where you had left off with your Government notes. Your handwriting started off neat, the ink gliding flawlessly across the lined paper. But by the time you had finished the notes and moved on to your chemistry homework, your handwriting had become rocky at best. You frowned at the smudged ink, the green hue bleeding into the once white paper. With a sigh you reached for your white out and continued to write out the reaction. Once you were finished with Chem, you turned your attention to your research paper for English. As you typed you could feel your eyelids drooping, the words seemed to blur and bend across the computer screen. Closing your eyes for a moment wouldn't hurt would it? A defeated sigh breezed past your lips as you folded your arms across the desk and rested your forehead against your arms to block out the blinding light of your lamp. You yawned and rubbed your eyes in an attempt to wake yourself up, though this seemed to be unsuccessful. As you slipped into sleep, you recalled the last time you had fallen asleep at your desk and how fucked up your back felt the following week. But your exhaustion won and your head slumped against your desk, any pain you felt would be a problem for future you.

Meanwhile, downstairs the upperclassman were well into their third bottle of wine and their fifth round of Candy Land. Erwin flicked the spinner and moved his piece accordingly, Levi sat back and sipped the dry red wine, Mike had his hand thrown over Nanaba's shoulders casually. Hange was leaning her head heavily against Erwin's shoulder and Levi swore he had never felt like such a loser in his whole life. If you were down here at least he wouldn't be the only person down here that was single. Hange howled as Erwin pushed his piece past hers, always the sore looser. Nanaba giggled drunkenly as she choked on her glass of wine. Levi rolled his eyes, his friends were past tipsy now, but not quite drunk, and this was usually when Levi would leave. He hated dealing with drunk people, they were messy and loud, the mere thought of any of them vomiting made him cringe. He waited until the spinner came around to him before he excused himself.

"Count me out." he held up his hand to deny the spinner as Mike tried to hand it to him.

"Awe come on Levi! We can't let Erwin win for the fifth time in a row!" Mike begged as Levi stood up and picked up his glass of wine.

"No." Levi denied, his voice growing colder. The group collectively called for him to stay, their voices a bit unsteady due to the alcohol. Levi shrugged them off and carefully stepped over Hange, she snagged his ankle and held him in a vice grip.

"No, don't go Levi! Finish this game please!" she whimpered as she pressed her face into his calf. His nose wrinkled in disgust at the sudden contact, Erwin chuckled and pulled Hange back and pressed a kiss to her temple. Yeah it was definitely time for him to go to bed, besides he needed to put some vaseline on his fresh ink. He slid into the upstairs bathroom, the sound of his friends laughing fading into the background. Tugging up his sleeve his hissed at the feeling of the raw skin coming in contact with the cold air. He pawed through the drawers, pausing at the sight of your feminine hygiene products. He usually used the downstairs restroom since the guest room was in the basement. He slammed the drawer shut and moved onto the next one, a relieved sigh escaping his lips at the sight of the familiar jar of vaseline. He swiped the jelly onto his tiny tea cup tattoo and rolled his sleeve back down, the soothing jelly immediately calming the irritated skin.

On his way out of the bathroom he noticed the small sliver of light that shined through your cracked door. He glanced down at his wrist watch and frowned, it was one thirty in the morning, you had supposedly gone to bed hours ago. He glanced down the stairs, from the bathroom he could see the open floor layout of the living room, where all of his friends were still gathered. He steeled himself and padded up to your door, he lifted his hand and rapped the backs of his knuckles against the surface. He frowned when there was no response, he gently pushed the door open and tentatively stepped inside. The room was dimly lit, the only light emitting from the small lamp on your desk. His eyes softened at the sight of you slumped onto your desk, but quickly hardened at the sight of drool dripping from the corner of your mouth. He sat his wine glass down as quietly as he could on your nightstand and raked his eyes around your cluttered room in search for a blanket. He spotted a quilt neatly folded on your window seat, he unfolded the blanket and draped it over your shoulders. Just as the blanket was settling on your shoulders and he was pulling his hands back, the door flew open. He jumped, spinning around only to be met with the sight of an unsteady Hange. The brunette's eyes widened at the sight of Levi's hand on the back of your seat.

"What..." her eyes narrowed and she pointed between the two of you.

"Is this?" she finished as she stepped into the room, her body swaying unsteadily. Good question, what was he doing in here?

"I came to shut off her light." Levi lied through his teeth, the truth was that he had wanted to spend more time in your presence.

"Lies." Hange hissed as she pointed accusingly at him.

"Tch, believe what you want four eyes." Levi grunted as he stalked across the room, meaning to make a quick get away before she drew too much attention to this fishy situation.

"Hey don't-" she lunged in an attempt to keep Levi from escaping, spilling her glass of wine onto the white carpet and onto Levi's crisp white hoodie. She caught herself on Levi, a drunk giggle bubbling past her lips as she clung to him. Levi staggered under her weight, his back hitting your wall with a dull thud. You grunted, slowly lifting your head from the desk you turned around to see Levi seething under Hange's weight as she pressed against him. Your eyes widened at the sight, Levi was trying to grab the glass from her hand to prevent further spillage, you were so distracted by the rare sight of Levi and Hange in such close proximity that you didn't notice the quilt falling off your shoulders. You blinked dumbly at the two of them as they grappled for the wine glass, Levi ultimately winning due to Hange's drunken state.

"Levi was peeping on you while you slept." Hange blurted, Levi slammed his hand over her mouth and snarled. You weren't surprised when Levis pulled his hand back with a small gasp, you could just make out the sheen of what you assumed was Hange's drool over his palm. The brunette cackled and staggered away from him and out of the room.

"I'm going to tell Erwin." she sang as she stumbled through the hall with her hand on the wall to guide her.

"Hange don't, it's okay really." you called after her, but your words fell on deaf ears as she rounded the stairs and disappeared.

"Damn it." Levi hissed, his eyes trained on the stain on the ground, he pulled the sweat shirt off of his skin, the alcohol sticking to his skin. You cleared your throat awkwardly as Levi pulled the sweatshirt off. You glanced at the stairs, no sign of Hange and Erwin yet, you could hear the sound of the group stumbling around the kitchen. Hopefully Hange had forgotten and favored grabbing another drink over causing trouble, so you stood up and crossed your room to quietly shut the door. Levi had his head against the wall, his eyes closed expecting an onslaught of accusations. Instead he was surprised to see you digging through your closet, pulling out one of your larger sweatshirts you tossed it to him. He caught the garment and eyed is suspiciously before tugging it over his head.

"Thanks." he mumbled, you waved him off and crossed your room to sit down on your bed.

"What's up?" you questioned, it was certainly out of character for him to be in your room. Levi shrugged and slowly crossed the room to drop down onto your bed next to you.

"Your light was on and I came in to shut it off." Levi replied nonchalantly, his eyes dull as he watched you slip under your covers. A chill ran up your spine, your room always got cold in the winter due to the large windows. After a moment of awkward silence you patted the space beside you, Levi quirked a brow at you but when you smiled at him he slid closer to you. He settled against the headboard with a sigh, you looked up at him, taking in the sharp lines of his jaw and the way his Adam's apple bobbed when he swallowed. He turned and raised a brow skeptically at you, you giggled and turned to slip deeper under your covers. He scoffed but turned to face you, propping himself up on his elbow. From this close proximity you could smell the wine on his breath, you noticed that his pupils were dilated, and his cheeks flushed.

"Thanks...I guess." you muttered as you watched him reach into his pockets and pull out his juul and take a hit. You frowned as he turned his head away from you to exhale, he sighed contentedly and turned to face you once more.

"You're going to get me in trouble." you scoffed as he attempted to offer you the juul.

"You only live once." he smirked as he dangled the device in your face. You gently pushed his hand away from your face, he shrugged and took another drag.

"Are you sleeping over?" you questioned, he simply nodded and pocketed his juul.

"It's like three in the morning." he scoffed rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"Oh, I guess..." you trailed off, the house had grown quiet, hopefully Hange had been dragged to bed by Erwin and had long forgotten about snitching on Levi. You weren't sure what Levi was still doing in your bed, you knew that he wouldn't force himself on you, but still he had never spend this much time alone with you since the time you had kissed. Just as you were about to ask him why he was still in your room, you heard the sound of the front door opening and then quickly closing. Your mother was home, you shoved Levi's shoulder and motioned for him to get out of your bed, a surge of panic rushing through you. Your mom would kill you if she saw Levi in your bed this late. Levi grunted and rolled off the bed, landing heavily on the ground with a thud. You winced and pointed at the door, Levi opened his mouth to say something but ultimately turned and stalked towards the door. When he opened the door, he was met with the tired face of your mother. Her eyes widened at the unexpected sight of Levi.

"Oh, Levi.." she managed to keep her voice even as she took in his appearance, his hair a bit mussed, cheeks pink and wearing your clothes.

"It's not what it looks like mom!" you scrambled out of bed and pushed Levi away from the doorway so that you could address your mother.

"Really..." she narrowed her eyes skeptically as her eyes roamed over your pajamas and messy hair. You grimaced but nodded, she glared at you and heaved a heavy sigh, turning her attention to Levi.

"So your uncle told me that you wouldn't be coming to Christmas this year?" she swiftly changed the subject. Levi blinked, shocked that she had chosen to ignore the suspicious state she had found the two of you in.

"Y-Yeah that's true, I finally saved enough to visit my old friends in France for the holidays." he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Is that so?" she hummed, leaning against the door frame and tugging her light jacket closer to her body. Levi nodded and spared you a glance, you looked surprised, but not upset.

"Well that sounds amazing, you'll have to send us a postcard." she mused, Levi nodded and shifted awkwardly.

"Yes ma'm." he responded, your mother nodded pleased with his response.

"How long will you be gone for?" she probed.

"Until January 8th." Levi answered.

"That's a long time." you quipped, Levi glanced at you and nodded.

"How exciting." your mother's response was genuine, she stepped aside allowing him to pass.

"Yeah." he muttered as he slid past and made his way towards the stairs. Once he was out of sight your mother turned to you, her usually soft features pinching into a scowl.

"Explain." she snapped, pointing a finger at the sizable wine stain.

"Hange spilled it, I'll clean it in the morning." you sighed as you eyed the large purple spot.

"Alright, just make sure that it gets cleaned." your mother leaned forward and kissed your forehead. You smiled at her, it was unusual that you got to see her after her shift.

"How was work?" you asked as you eyed her scrubs, noting a mystery stain on her shirt.

"Messy." she sighed as she followed your gaze.

"Did you save lots of lives?" you giggled.

"Of course." your mother jabbed.

"Get some sleep (Y/n)." she hummed, her hand burying into your messy hair to ruffle it affectionately.

"Goodnight mom." you called after her as she descended the staircase, she waved her hand and you slowly shut the door.

268 notes · View notes

hold-our-destiny · 3 years

Text

so i thought since im not really writing much lately, id put a big list of all my ideas with brief summaries and if you guys wanted to see any in particular i could try to write a small oneshot of it.

1. basically peter having a long conversating with tony about the struggles of having his enhancements and explaining how he cant even kill himself because of his healing (like the scene from avengers)

2. Endgame au- “Hey peter? Its Tony- We did it. We won, pete- we won. Please Peter” then when peter’s in a coma he listens to a voicemail left by him before he left for the field trip (saved on insta) at some point peter says “i just wanted to be like you”

3. V slow (almost) major character death- three quick gunshots and a thump- peter worrying about tony’s head wound.

4. peter and harley falling in love (3k words) in tumblr drafts for harley

5. tony breaking down in the middle of a fight

6. Stony soulmate au- sharing scars.

7. “I didn’t think you cared about me”

8. Peter dragged underwater

9. Steve reading bucky’s journal in civil war

10. peter tries to help tony in siberia but gets hypothermia way more than tony does. after like a week steve comes back and tony screams at him cause peters in a coma, maybe steve finds him in the medbay

11. Parkner last words soulmate au

12. peter gets infected with anthrax

13.steve and peter kidnapped thing- peter bring scared of tony cause they used his tech against him

14. parkner hanahaki but with recovery and peter coughing up the rest of the flowers= whump. basically peter loves harley, passes out cause he can’t breathe and nearly dies, tells harley, and has to spend a week throwing up the rest of the flowers and being so tired he can’t stand

15. tony faking his death and peter and steve getting mad when they find out he’s alive

16. rhodey tony falling in love+ going to warrrr

17. okay so tony maybe almost dying and peter crying about it?

18. peter gets kidnapped after an argument saying “i know- i know you’re mad but- p-please Mr stark- please help m-me, i’m sorry” cause he thinks tonys mad at him.

19. steve helping peter with harassers- drafts

20. tony whump being kidnapped and refusing to give info on spiderman and peter saves him with rhodey and gets shot but because of adrenaline they don’t realise until they’re outside and peter collapses

21. the scene where he gets shot from enola holmes but it’s irondad- peter has a bulletproof vest on and gets shot by a shotgun and tony thinks he’s dead cause he’s oncounscious from being thrown into a wall

22. okay so what about a situation where tony and peter are at a press event and peter gets shot. just imagine what tony would be saying as he catches him and slowly lowers him to the floor.“it’s okay, i gotcha. holy shit- you’re gunna be okay, kid. come on, eyes on me-“ keeping on talking until the medics get there, still not leaving the kids limp form. Peters eyes never leave him, glazed over but never closing.Of course, when he wakes up later, Tony will be a little teary eyed sat by his bed, probably making a joke about “god kid, you’re not supposed to outlive your old man” Peter not wanting to be alone when he dies

23. tony and peter on a mission and tony goes to find peter cause he’s not responding and he’s unconscious cause of poison- tetrodotoxin B

24. Peter put in a cage thing with bucky when hes triggered into being the winter soldier and being on comms with steve and the others.

25. 5 times tony and peter thought they lost each other and the one time they nearly did.

26. Degloving

27. parkner voicemail with peter almost dying, end is him coming home. season 2 ep 3 of 911

28. soulmates rhodyetony can feel each other’s pain. rhodey knowing tony’s alive in im1

29. parkner enemies to lovers only one bed nightmare

30. character study of the mcu, ned, sam, wanda, mj, bucky,

31. harley thinking peter is dead, dealing with grief after a kidnapping

32. Prompt 885: Stephen and Tony were together before Afghanistan. They hit a rough patch when Stephen has his accident and the Accords are proposed. The stress causes a huge fight where Tony tells Stephen to get out and never contact him again. Stephen is crushed and leaves for Kathmandu the next day, leaving only a voicemail saying goodbye and asking Tony to not blame himself. The general consensus is he committed suicide. CA:CW and DS happen, and Tony runs into a changed Stephen in Greenwich Village.

33. basically incredibles- steve’s taken by hydra and peter and tony are in a plane when hydra attacks them, tony’s telling them to abort and steve slowly realises he could lose his family, then it blows up and tony calls a suit to peter. peters got broken ribs and bruises because of moving around and tony sends out a signal to the team

34. peter nearly dies on a mission, tony’s yelling at him and he breaks down crying when he realises what could’ve happened

35. peter nearly gets kidnapped/ sold and he’s really shaken up about it he won’t leave harley or tony

36. peter and tony are kidnapped, peters conditioned and at one point the kidnapper gives him a truth serum and asks intimate questions/ he’s not conditioned and it’s either ask the questions or take the punishment-

37. bucky getting back from hydra and coping? steve feeling sad, finding out bucky can feel his arm and tried to rip it out, tony helping? the scene in the woods with the trigger words and steve being there really sad and shit- also thinking pierce was steve

38. peter flinching during an argument

39. bucky having to pretend to be winter again in a mission

40. Peter telling tony about skip

41. ya know the hypothetical about hydra training bucky to give people guns incase they need to ‘execute’ the soldier, and him giving steve a guy.

42. peter being trapped in the soul stone when he gets snapped, him being the only one there because of his mutation or something (his soul was too strong to be broken for the time so it had to be contained) plus dissociation when he gets back

43. peter and bucky kidnapped together, tony and steve both worried as hell and having to work together and bond to get them back

44. soulmate mind talking- peter getting into trouble/kidnapping? make collection for soulmates

45. peter and tony are running from kidnappers, peter gets caught in a bear trap. maybe include steve.

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silverlightqueen · 4 years

Text

My Love is Come to Me

silverlightqueen’s SKZ Scarefest

demonhunter!Changbin x demonprincess!reader - comedy, angst, gore and violence, reader is a total bad bitch and Changbin is just tired™️

Word Count: 2.6k+

Summary - y/n’s a troublemaker. Everyone who’s ever met her knows that well. However… y/n’s definition of trouble isn’t quite what you’d expect. But what’s the harm in messing with humans? Hurting them a little? Or hurting them a lot? It’s only a bit of fun, right? Changbin doesn’t seem to think so.

Warnings: explicit gory description, blood and weapons, violence, decapitation, murder, blackmail and betrayal, I think that’s it but please let me know if you noticed I missed something!

a/n: and here is the third instalment of my SKZ Scarefest! I really hope you enjoy it! please be sure to check out the previous parts (because I put a lot of effort in and one of them has two notes lmao) and keep an eye out for the coming parts too! thank you @silverlightprincess for proofreading, you’re the best and I love you! x

taglist: @kodzu-ken @cloudsgathering @silverlightprincess

silverlightqueen navigation

‘Which poor thing have they sent this time?’ I call tauntingly into the darkness when I hear footsteps echoing around the room. Only one chandelier is lit - the one above me – flickering sinisterly whilst the rest of the room remains hidden in the blanket of the dark. I don’t get a reply but the smile on my face doesn’t falter because I can hear the footsteps getting louder, my acute hearing giving me the ability to pinpoint exactly where they are. And just as I expect, a single boot appears out of the shadows, the light glinting off the pristine black leather. Another boot joins the first, and the person wearing them is illuminated only a few moments later, their face making my smile grow wider.

‘Changbin – the boss himself! It has been so long!’ I exclaim, leaning back in my seat and crossing one leg over the other, beaming at him. ‘Not long enough,’ he mutters with a roll of his eyes, tucking one hand into his pocket exasperatedly. He looks so handsome, as he always does, in his hunter uniform. The black t-shirt and black cargo trousers are perfectly fitted to his godly proportions, and he has a harness, with weapons tucked into it, tight around his waist, giving him an attractive V-shape. His biceps bulge against the sheaths he has fastened around them, and he has a gun strap diagonally across his torso, the butt of the gun visible over his shoulder. His hair is different now to the last time I saw him; he’s dyed it a light blond and has it parted at the side, the silky locks spread to reveal a slice of his forehead and one dark brown eyebrow.

‘Your hair is nice. This colour complements your skin,’ I murmur softly, and he looks up at me with a stony expression. ‘Will you not thank me for my kind words?’ I ask, hearing the edge in my voice, and I see his jaw clench in anger. I lift a hand up, a flame appearing in my palm, and I run my long stiletto shaped nails, blood red and sharpened to a lethal point, through the tip of it, the heat tickling my skin. ‘Thank me,’ I instruct, and he sighs in defeat, eyes watching the hellfire in my hand warily. ‘Thank you, y/n,’ he says through gritted teeth, and I grin, closing my hand on the flame and feeling it die against my skin.

‘Which pointless charade will it be today, Changbin? Shall I pretend to run and let you chase me for a little while? Or should I let you kill me to only come and haunt you again tomorrow? Maybe I should just leave?’ I pretend to ponder, enjoying this far too much. ‘You know what you should do? Go terrorise another realm,’ he spits out angrily, and I pretend to recoil back, holding a hand to where my heart would be if I had one in mock hurt. ‘Ouch. And here I was thinking you liked our… little chats,’ I pout, trying to look as sad as I can (it is hard when emotion is not something you feel), and he lets out an angry huff.

‘Cut the bullshit, y/n, I’m sick of this. Haven’t you got anything better to do?’ ‘Better than torturing helpless little humans? Better than listening to the desperate screams of my victims as I terrorise them before tearing them apart? Better than feeling full on fear? Not much in the world is better than that, Changbin. And you know it well yourself,’ I say with a little grin, and he doesn’t say anything, just staring at me unreadably, because he knows I’m right.

Not many know the origin of demon hunters, but I’m old enough to have been there when the first one was converted. A priest of one of the first civilisations on Earth created a spell to supress the demonic qualities of demons, and turn them into enhanced beings without the evil in them. By a clumsy mistake on my part, he managed to capture me and my love, who was too a demon, and locked me up whilst he performed the spell on my love. I had no belief that it would work, but how wrong I was, for the first thing my love did when he laid eyes on me after having the spell performed on him was lift a knife that my father had gifted him and plunge it into my chest. When I awoke, I was back in the 5th circle of Hell, weak and hurt, and my love, as he was, was lost forever.

‘Do you not miss the old days, Changbin? Chasing humans, petrifying them, feeding on their deliciously raw fear, striking our glorious wrath down upon them? Ruling the 5th circle side by side with me, as King and Queen?’ I ask, as I always do, and I can’t help but hope to hear a different answer than usual, as I always do. ‘No, y/n, I don’t miss it. I miss the days when I’d kill you and you’d actually die for longer than a few hours,’ he mutters angrily, and I sigh, not so much disappointed as… fed up.

His harsh words used to hurt, especially so soon after I used to hear nothing but love and devotion from him, and I would weep at his feet, begging for him to come back to me. The spell is reversible, you see, but demon hunters are almost entirely immune to temptation, and so there is nothing that will make them choose to change back. I used to follow him everywhere, desperate for him to come home with me as himself, and he would hurl hurtful words at me before brutally murdering me. I’d reawaken a few days later and sob as the pain of a broken heart engulfed me, only to seek him out again with renewed hope not long after.

It was only a century after pursuing him that the pain was too much to bear, and I took his knife from him – my father’s knife – to cut out my own heart and place it in his palm. When he hurled it away in disgust, I felt nothing, no hurt or pain or heartbreak, and it was liberating. The old love for him lingers on still, but it is faint, and his rejections inflict pain upon me no more.

‘Come,’ I command, and he doesn’t move a muscle, turning over Satan’s knife in his hands. ‘Don’t make me hurt you, because you know well that I will. My tenderness for you exists no longer, Changbin, and my patience wears thin quickly,’ I say gently, the threat in my words clear, and he sighs exasperatedly, boots thudding against the steps as he makes his way up towards me. I rise from the throne, moving aside and motioning for him to sit, and he fixes me with a look as if to say, ‘really?’ I don’t say anything, raising a brow, daring him to disobey me, and he looks away, sinking into the throne in defeat. He may be the original Demon Hunter, but there is not much in the world that is stronger than Satan’s daughter, a Princess of Hell.

I carefully make my way down the steps, the Queen’s heavy fur robes that are fastened across my collar dragging behind me, and I know his eyes are on my back, able to smell the intrigue rolling off him in waves. My red stilettos echo against the polished wooden floor, and with each step I take, the sound of Changbin’s gentle breaths becomes quieter and quieter, his steady heartbeat just out of my reach.

And then my ears pick up the clinking of metal, the rush of wind that follows a sudden movement, and the singing of a blade through the air. Just as I reach the door of the throne room, the knife reaches me, and I turn around, catching it with a quick hand, the sharp blade nicking my palm, blood slowly trickling down my wrist and tainting my skin. ‘It is not nice to throw things at people in the dark, Changbin. Especially sharp things,’ I say lightly, as though reprimanding a child, and I smile at the soft frustrated sigh he lets out. He cannot have possibly thought something with such little effort would have been anything other than futile – he knows it is not easy to kill me.

I raise the hand with the blade in it, lighting all of the chandeliers with that single movement, and I revel in seeing the way Changbin’s face changes when the room is thrown into light. ‘Did they not tell you what you were coming to deal with? Well, you should have known – we did this sort of thing together once. Especially at this time of the year, to mark the coming of All Hallows’ Eve,’ I say nonchalantly, leaning against the doorframe with a grin, and he looks up at me, disgust colouring his beautiful face. ‘You make me sick,’ he spits out, features twisting with anger, and my grin grows even wider.

My eyes scan over the room, admiring my work of art. Bodies are strewn across the room, the floor covered entirely in fresh blood, ruby red splashed across the majestic paintings that adorn the golden walls. The only part of the room empty of bodies is the red carpet beneath my feet, stained redder with blood, unrolled right up to the foot of the throne. A clear walkway for a King and Queen.

‘When will this end, y/n? You can’t keep doing this!’ he shouts, furious, and I just raise an eyebrow. ‘I can, and I will. You are the only one who can put a stop to this, so you know as well as I that the blood of these innocents is not on my hands. It is on yours, my love,’ I smile, and he shakes his head, face twisted with rage.

‘They said it was one dead body. Not this… barbaric massacre,’ he says, sounding bitter, and I roll my eyes. ‘Oh, you sound so sad, but for no good reason. You know not these humans, care not for them,’ I say, frustrated at his righteousness when, deep down, he is no better than I. ‘It’s basic human empathy, y/n!’ he shouts at me, and I let out a harsh laugh. ‘A human you are not! You are like me!’ I scream, my voice echoing around the circular room endlessly, ringing in my ears.

We’re both silent and after a few moments, I let out an annoyed huff. ‘I loathe shouting. It is so unladylike. I wish you would refrain from making me do so,’ I pout, lifting a hand to fix the Queen’s tiara atop my head. ‘I wish you would refrain from murdering dozens of innocent people,’ he says pointedly, and I roll my eyes. ‘Goodness, you are dramatic. They are not dead. Just injured or stunned. Only one is dead. That one,’ I say exasperatedly, pointing to the body that is speared on the massive sword hung on the wall, and Changbin looks around in horror. ‘They’re all alive?’ he asks, and I nod, a small smile curving my lips up. ‘Not for long,’ I grin, and his eyes meet mine, questioning and wary.

I bend over, grabbing the shoulder of the human closest to me, and I lift her up against me, pressing the blade to her neck. She’s only a young girl, no older than 16, with a mild injury to her arm. The only reason she’s unconscious is her fear. ‘Change back or I murder her. And then I shall murder the rest of them too,’ I smile, giving him the ultimatum I should have given him many centuries ago, and his face falls. ‘y/n, don’t-’ ‘Begging I would bother not with, nor bargaining. I have given you your choice. Now make it,’ I say, and he just stares at me, jaw clenched with fury.

‘Dither not, Changbin. Her time is running out,’ I taunt him, digging the knife into her skin, fresh blood blooming around the blade. One move of my arm, and the life will seep out of her. ‘y/n, please-’ ‘Three.’ ‘y/n, don’t do this. Please-’ ‘Two.’ ‘y/n, please!’ ‘One.’ ‘Fine, fine, I’ll do it!’ he shouts, and I raise an eyebrow. ‘So do it,’ I say, and he stares at me for a moment, helplessness and rage covering his features. His eyes slide shut quickly, as though they were forced close, and his face becomes a blank canvas, sparking hope in my chest. I didn’t really think he’d do it, and part of me still doesn’t.

But when he opens his eyes again a few moments later, and they glow ruby red, I know. I stare at him in disbelief, and he just stares back, the red in his eyes slowly fading. And then he smiles, a beautiful and terrible smile, and I can’t help but smile back, a smile of glorious victory. My love is come to me.

I force the knife through the girl’s neck, revelling in the loud crunch of her head coming apart from the rest of her, and I drop both her limp body and severed head to the floor, cleaning the blade on the royal robes. I step along the red carpet, making my way back towards him, and stop halfway, looking down at the King who lies pathetically at my feet. I reach down, pulling the crown from his head and the sceptre from his hand. I continue walking up towards Changbin, the man watching me with a devilish grin, leaning back in the throne as though it is his own, his big veiny hands adorned with rings resting on the red velvet arms on the chair.

When I reach him, he stands before me, and I place the crown atop his blond locks gently, handing him the sceptre which he takes with a strong hand. ‘My King, my love,’ I whisper, and his smile grows. ‘My Queen, my love,’ he replies, lifting my hand to his mouth and pressing a gentle kiss to my skin, his sinful brown eyes never leaving mine.

‘Your wound bleeds,’ he murmurs, lifting my hand to his face once more and pressing the cut on my palm to his mouth, cleaning away the blood with one swift motion of his tongue. And then he lifts his hand to my face, and swipes his finger across my cheek, cleaning away a splash of the human girl’s blood. The simple and tender touch ignites me, my love for him burning hot through my body. He holds his finger to his mouth, tongue darting out to taste the blood, and his eyes flutter shut as a low moan sounds in his throat, the sound sparking desire deep within me.

‘How I have missed the divine taste of human blood. Only slightly less than I have missed you, my love,’ he says softly, and a satisfied smile stretches across my face. ‘I feel that I may have missed you more,’ I reply, and he lets out a gentle scoff. ‘Impossible,’ he says lightly, and I raise an eyebrow. ‘Show me how much you missed me,’ I challenge, and I see the competitive glint in his eyes appear again, though it is not a look I have been able to miss – it seems my Changbin and the other Changbin had a competitive streak in common. ‘How, my love? I shall do whatever you ask of me,’ he promises, and I grin, slipping past him to sink into the throne, looking out over the room with my chin lifted in a regal stance.

‘Kill them all, my King,’ I say simply, and his lips lift in an evil grin, his eyes glowing red with sin. ‘For you, my Queen – my love – gladly.’

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arsenicpanda · 4 years

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Bughead Appreciation Day 1 Except It’s Day 2

So I spent yesterday nice and cozy in bed and put this off (good choice, tbh, I was very snug as a bug), but now, now comes the time for me to gush about some people in the fandom! This is definitely not a comprehensive list, I have absolutely left some people out because I am very forgetful, but, in no particular order and under a cut because I’m a wordy bitch:

@tory-b: A delight and a dear, leading writer of monsterfucker!Betty, co-runner of @riverdaleprideandjoyzine, a legend and a friend, we have no choice but to stan. Her stuff is so good and varied and just *chef’s kiss* a delight, two favorites of mine are Fangs/com/Match (Betty/dragon!Jughead meet via monsterfucker Tinder, has some great friendship moments with Kevin and Veronica and is v sexy and funny, features the horniest Betty) and Sticky Sweet Serenade ((past)-friends-to-enemies-to-lovers bughead, mixes up some statuses in Riverdale, excellent mystery, I remember reading it and going, “holy shit, a believable take on Northside!Jughead”). I’ve also gotta mention Whats in a Name? (Betty and Jughead meet on tumblr, Betty writes poetry and Jughead is a shitposter, they slowly connect, it’s great) and To Balance the Scales (scientist!Betty/mermaid!Jughead, currently a slow build, I cannot wait for you guys to see the excellent worldbuilding she’s done). I could keep going, or you could binge all her fics today, an excellent use of your Saturday, I assure you, because I’ve left a lot out.

@stillhidden: Always good for some great thoughts on the show, one of the best reasons for my your thoughts on Riverdale please show them to me tag, I get psyched every time I see a Riverdale text post or ask answer because I know I’m in for a good time. Thoughtful and funny and nice, what a combo!

@satelliteinasupernova: So talented! Author, artist, co-runner of @riverdaleprideandjoyzine, funny, haver of good thoughts on Riverdale is there anything she can’t do? No, there is not. Every time I see her art I’m like !!!, the colors! how well-drawn the hands are! the accuracy of their hair! the backgrounds! the way I can see the love in their eyes! I cannot even, there are no words. Also! Her fics! So original! One of my earliest memories in the fandom is reading The town called Riverdale (a sort of mystery about the meta fuckery going down in Riverdale, explores time loops, stories that control lives, the roles the Archie characters are “supposed” to have, a mash-up with concepts in Princess Tutu that requires zero knowledge of Princess Tutu) and going !!! is this a Princess Tutu mash-up? Have I been #blessed enough to see a mash up between Riverdale, a story that fucks with archetypes, and Princess Tutu, one of the shows about fucking with archetypes and the way stories ontrol lives? I was and I am and I raved to my non-fandom but Princess Tutu liker friend about it. Has also wonderfully tackled eldritch horror in return to Eldervair and gothic horror/romance in The Lady of the Manor, does fluff, does angst, does it all, so go check her out!

@go-ldy: An angst and time skip queen, tbh, and always has some great thoughts on Riverdale, another reason I’m glad I have that tag. Every time she answers an ask, I’m like, “Yesss, incoming Good Thoughts, I am HERE for this”. But do not sleep on her as an author! Into the Deep is some delightful dark!bughead, and I’ll walk with you in the shadows is such good time skip angst and a mystery and there’s a certain surprise I love but is a spoiler but you simply must read this, you must. The Time after Time series is giving us that good angst bughead content that season 5 is not going to, and I’m so glad it exists and just thrilled that she trusted me to beta it. I’m leaving a lot of stuff out though, so you should go check her out!

@milajovovich: One of the best gif makers in the fandom, I will fight you on this. Makes absolute miracles with footage, the way she makes season 4 webrips look like they’re actual blurayrips is godly, they’re so crisp and so smooth and the coloring is always great. And like, jesus, the way the bluray footage looks? Fucking outstanding, the talent is off the charts. Go marvel at their gifs, go, go.

@imreallyloveleee: A prolific, talented author and funny to boot! loveleee is one of the people who has been here since the beginning, a mainstay in the fandom, and we are so, so lucky she hasn’t left. How do I even begin to rec you some of her stuff? She can write smut with fics like burn, baby (a 3x16 missing moment of bughead fucking in the car as the trailer burns, what a gift to the fandom, I can’t even), is queen of pining with fics like boy problems (season 1 post 1x05 canon divergence, a bughead get together but with that quality pining) and her i’m just a shot away series (two fics, one from Jughead’s POV and one from Betty’s, that are fully of pining and sexual tension and miscommunication and major teenage vibes, you gotta read them), and writer of one of the funniest fics in the fandom and one of my favorite, like spirits in the night (the core four + Kevin perform a seance to contact Jason Blossom and yes, it is just as funny as it sounds, perhaps even funnier). And there are countless others, so settle in and go check her out because she does it all, fluff and angst too, I just don’t have time to rec them all.

@meditationonbaaal: Absolutely one of my all-time favorite fic authors, like across fandoms, the talent, I cannot even properly describe it, like the quality of the prose, amazing, iconic. the devil’s daughter (a season 2 rewrite with some differences in season 1, jumps back and forth through time in the best way, has the best and creepiest dark!Jughead, has some great smut that includes dom!Betty and dom!Jughead can you believe we are so blessed, such a good rewrite of season 2, and you know how I love season 2, so that is some high praise, let me tell you) is easily in my top 10 all-time favorite fics across the many, many fandoms I’ve read many, many fics of, and you simply must check it out, you will not be disappointed. develop, stop, fix just blew me away as a kink week fic of bughead playing with bdsm in a dark room, the layers, the smut, the trust, the feelings, I cannot even. And doll parts! doll parts is so good, just such an amazing take on drop dead gorgeous, a fabulous Jughead and Betty as per usual, dare I say even better than an already fantastic movie. I am behind on loose lips sink ships, but I can already tell it’s going to be a great exploration of the Stonies and a great take on season 4. Keep an eye on her stuff here and here, do not miss out!

@dieqohargreeves: An icon and legend in gif making, just makes the most beautiful and intricate and creative gifs. The coloring is amazing, the techniques are amazing, that shit is Art, I will fight you on this. You gotta check ‘em out, you just gotta, I can’t do their work justice.

@sullypants: The wit! The humor! The observational skills! The talent, my god! Sully is the genius behind @bettycooperoutfitwatch and @riverdalearthistory as well as a fabulous writer of both meta and fic, yet another excellent reason for me to keep up with others’ thoughts on Riverdale. Her a comic miniverse series is so funny and sweet and such a great take on the Archie Comics version of bughead, and the after-party series (Betty and Jughead attend a, well, prom after party, and the events that happen, and I am not doing it justice, but it is v good, I promise) has such a great vibe and such great characterization. And young adult friction (librarian!Jughead is in a kind of competition with librarian!Betty, it’s so funny and so great) is such a delight, and we do not have time to get into everything great she’s written, but go check it out here.

@lilibug--xx: The queen of bughead smut, can you believe she has graced us with her stuff? It is steamy and it is in character and it is amazing. Dark Cherry Chutney is still a fandom favorite of mine, just some great dark!bughead who are unaware of each other’s darkness (but oh, they find out!) as well as some excellent smut. And Pressed for Time (Betty teasing Jughead with her skirts in an effort to get him to fuck her and he is barely holding on until he isn’t, alternating POVs in the best way) is sexy af but makes you work for it, it’s a delight. And give you mine (Betty and Jughead fuck at work and it is so hot, I can’t even) is so goddamn good, just some of the best dom!Jughead out there. Has also written monsterfucker!Betty, which you know I’m a fan of, in once upon a midnight (werewolf-hunter!Betty/werewolf!Jughead with sex pollen where she does not shy away from some wolfy-ness and it is hot af) and has written monsterfucker!Jughead, a rarity but always a delight, with reap what you sow (witch!Jughead/undine!Betty and Betty is so delightfully otherworldly and it is so sexy but also sweet), and there are countless other smut fics, we would be here all day if I went through them all, so you gotta check her out here. One more thing though: she can also write fluff with Lemon Drops and Chocolate Chips, a sweet fic of Betty and Jughead as neighbors that you should definitely check out.

@thatiranianphantom: Funny and thoughtful and talented and has correct opinions on musicals! Writes such good explorations of post-4x17 (and post-4x17 adjacent) scenarios. Like, the we are a masterpiece series is v good and so interesting, and no one else is singing my song is such great angst as a post-4x17 fic and a great use of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend songs. I am forgetting a lot of stuff, I know I am, and I think I might be behind like a fool, so let’s go check out all her stuff together here, yes? Yes. Also? Great for Riverdale speculation, especially about the season 5 musical episode.

@heartunsettledsoul: So talented, queen of canon missing moments, and funny to boot! I love reading her liveblogging of the episodes, and I cannot recommend her stuff enough. Her Forgotten Moments series of canon missing moments is iconic, you must go read all of it, especially there’s witchcraft in your hips, a post-2x13 fic of Betty and Jughead being such teenagers and Jughead being a dweeb about his cheerleader girlfriend and I am not doing it justice but you gotta go read it, man, you gotta. But the series is full of gems from the beginning with Midnight Silence (Betty and Jughead talk post-1x04 about the Grundy debacle and it’s such a delight) and going all the way through to the most recent it might’ve been a nightmare (a 4x12 through 4x16 fic that gives me a wide range of emotions and is fantastic) and your eyes look like coming home (Betty’s diary entries throughout season 1, simply inspired). But she’s also so good at AUs! a dark world aches (for a splash of the sun) is already looking so good as a bughead mystery with some varchie fun on the side, just some quality core four content, and won’t be the same (if you’re not here with me) is a favorite of fake dating, Christmas, and there was only one bed, just the best tropefest. And there are so, so many more, so you must check her out here.

@lovedinapastlife: She writes such a variety of AUs, I am just in awe of them all! The talent, I am amazed. The dark!bughead in The Society is peak dark!bughead with a simply iconic yandere!Betty, and you are seriously missing out if you have not read it yet. Oh, and there’s some more dark!Jughead with a side of dark!Betty in the key to harm(ony) that you must check out because it’s such a great ride and is sexy, what more could you want? Every movie AU she does really takes the source material and makes it her own from works You Drive Me Crazy (but I'm gonna keep on loving you), based on Drive Me Crazy and definitely better than the movie, to the most recent to all the boys (but especially you), based on To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and just so sweet. But also can write otherworldly fics like Heart’s Desire with genie!Betty and The Second Coming with fae!Jughead, as well as regular aus like Detention (Betty and Jughead in detention and it gets a little sexy but also quite cute), and pure porn like Eye of the Beholder (Betty and Jughead as sorcerers who hook up over sorcerer Tinder and it is sexy but also sweet), as well as some of the best ABO in fandom with her A/B/O Mine series (alpha!Jughead/omega!Betty in high school and holy shit is it hot as hell). I am only just skimming the surface here, so definitely go check her out!

@kyloren aka @jughead-jones: Mila is so talented at making gifs, like goddamn, and also so funny, but I bet you didn’t know that she also has written some damn good fic! She hides it, but it is out there and it is very good, my favorite being let me hang my hook on your splendor, a fandom fave of a Scooby-Doo au that is so much more thoughtful and clever with its casting, and also very amusing, you must check out the rest of her stuff here.

@elizabethbettscooper: A delightful person and a delightful writer who is largely retired from the bughead fandom but still such a talent, like seriously. Her Twin Peaks Riverdale AU The Past Dictates the Future is so good, you simply must check it out, like you must. And yours was the first face i saw is such a fun AU of “what if Betty’s crush on Archie was a front for her crush on Jughead”, you must go read it. And holy shit, her i may be bad (but i’m perfectly good at it) series is peak dom!Jughead/sub!Betty taking place when they’re in college and fucking in so many varied ways, like if you are into that, you must go read these fics, you must, you will have a great and sexy, sexy time. And there’s so much more good stuff, you gotta go read it all here.

@bettycreeper: She does so much for the fandom and she makes such gorgeous gifs! Like, the coordination she does on the @bugheadfamily server and @bugheadfanfictionawards and @riverdale-events and probably elsewhere cannot be understated, she is such a valuable presence in the fandom. And have you seen her gifs? Gorgeous quality, just gorgeous, and her movie poster gifs for fics are simply inspired. Also? She’s an amazing beta, just outstanding.

@stillscape: A very thoughtful person and excellent writer who I can’t seem to tag. Dianthus Caryophyllus is still one of my favorite fics in the fandom, a high school bughead fic with some amazing pining from Jughead with an oblivious Betty, I can feel it, it’s so good. And of course there’s Ninia, an amazing take on the soulmates trope, just so good, I cannot do it justice, you must check it out. The for the life of me series is also such a good AU for Betty and Jughead getting together pre-Riverdale at a summer internship, I have such fond memories of it. And la peste (the plague)! So good, I cannot even. We don’t have time for everything, except you should make time and go check all of it out here.

@theheavycrown: God, where would we be without Sarah? She does so much work for the @bugheadfamily and @bugheadfanfictionawards and @riverdale-events and @riverdalecentral and I’m probably forgetting some, tbh. And so sweet and talented! Her gifs are fantastic and so are her fics. Like, Rain Comes Down (Betty and Jughead fucking in the car on the side of the road while cars drive by)? Iconic, some amazing exhibitionism. you had me howling(Betty in heat in the woods and then Jughead finds her and fucking ensues)? Fantastic ABO, so horny, so desperate. Beneath the Silver Moon Rising? Excellent dom!Jughead, excellent sexy times. You must go check out all of her stuff here, you must.

@50shades-of-bughead: Just some of the absolute cutest art that you must check out, especially their series of dark!bughead that is just fantastic.

@thepointoftheneedle: The variety of work here is phenomenal, the talent, I cannot. Took my ridiculous double fake marriage/draft-dodging concept and turned it into an excellent, thoughtful period piece with phenomenal characterization and a great mystery with Never No Locomotive, I cannot recommend it enough. And Ghosts and Clouds and Nameless Things (ghost!Jughead/grieving-dead-Jughead!Betty with a side of mystery) gave me so many emotions, I think I almost cried, and I am not a crier, I assure you. Hey Pixie Dream Girl, I’m Coming for Your Man! (Betty in her bookstore saves Jughead from his date with a Manic Pixie Dream Girl) is so delightfully funny, and Sunflowers (Betty and Jughead share a working space and fall in love) is so goddamn cute. I have actually found myself behind on her work, which is a crime, it all looks so amazing and I know it will be, and you must check all of it out with me here.

@hellodinoflower: Such an amazing presence in the fandom, such a delight, so clever and funny. She ran @bugheaddrabblechallenge this past summer and gave us all so much joy in the process, and, while her fics are deleted now (as is her right), I promise you that they were amazing, you all missed out if you slept on her. She’s such a great follow, you gotta follow her.

@bluevelvetvideo: A delighful soul, great character insight, great writing. Like, her smut is fantastic, have you read Arsenal (a double feature of Betty and Jughead fooling around in public and then having some sexytimes back in private with some quality dom!Jughead, let me tell you, v steamy)? Because you should. Christmas Lights (Jughead ties Betty up with their Christmas lights, it’s fantastically sexy) is a delight, and you can’t blame gravity (for falling in love) is a very fun take on soulmates and soulmarks, and you simply must go read it. She is a master of smut, let me tell you, and you must check out all her stuff here. Also? An excellent beta, 10/10, I’m so lucky to have her.

@a-true-janian-reply: Very funny, has excellent thoughts on Riverdale! Like, truly, every time I see an original text post or a reblog from her, I am PSYCHED because it’s always going to be SO GOOD.

@writeradamanteve: Such great talent across genres, really impressive. Drive (illegal drag racing Betty and college student but former-ish Serpent Jughead, just fantastic) is one of my earliest fandom favorites, I remember excitedly telling my non-fandom friend about it because I thought it was so clever, and we all know how good Daemon Bound is, yes? Yes, I’m sure we do. Let’s go make sure we’ve read all her stuff here.

@thugheadjones: Has some great insights, some great responses to dumb anons, and some fantastic art, like holy shit, I cannot even.

@bugggghead: A delightful soul, so nice, so talented. Writes some amazing smut, like, have you read intimately acquainted (alpha!Jughead/omega!Betty, meeting up on an app to help Betty with her heat in a heat retreat, four chapters of excellent smut)? Because you should if you’re even kind of interested in ABO. And en pointe is the bughead knifeplay fic of dreams, you gotta check it out. And there are so many other ones, we do not have time to cover them all. She also does cute fics, btw, and Message Me (fanfic-author-who-is-actually-the -real-author!Jughead/gif-maker-and-fangirl!Betty meet on tumblr and fall in love and it’s great) is such a delight, definitely go check it out. In fact, go check out all her stuff here. Also a fantastic beta, I really owe her for that.

@heavy-lies-the-crown: A talented soul who has written so much high quality fic, from the hilarious red ribbon winner (a Christmas fic comedy that I cannot describe well but I assure you is both hilarious and sweet) to the emotional and moving road to me (Betty and Jughead break up, find themselves, and come back together and it’s perfection) to the heart-ripping angst of apizza (a semi post-4x17-speculation fic of bughead together but apart at Yale and the way they will come back together and it is so good and so angsty) to many, many more. You gotta go check it all out here.

@lurker-no-more: Yet another funny person, we as a fandom are so blessed, you must check them out, you just must.

@iconic-ponytail: Another excellent writer! a revelation in the light of day is SUCH a great slowburn and SUCH a great take on both FBI!Betty and Sheriff!Jughead and the two of them falling in love as adults. Also, the side varchie is fantastic, and the mystery is amazing. I have not yet checked out the nighthawks, but I already know it’s going to be good, I can tell, you can trust this author to be quality, so go check all of her stuff out here.

@soyforramen: Funny! Very funny! Also? Writes some great ficlets that are, I think, exclusive to tumblr, which is a tragedy, tbh, but as is their right. But I do have the link to this genius fic about bughead and a platypus in honor of the platypus anon that was going around this summer. Definitely go check them out!

And now I am very tired, I have used up my energy, and I am so sorry if I forgot anyone!

#Riverdale #fandom #fic recs #I mean they're buried in there but they're THERE #can you tell I ran out of steam at the end?

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arotechno · 4 years

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The Heartless: Chapter 5

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Chapter V: in which the proverbial dam breaks

We stayed with Esther for three days. We’d spend the daylight hours working in the field, and in the evenings we’d sit outside and listen to Esther’s stories while the sun sank into the far-off horizon and gave way to the cool summer night. Sometimes, she’d help us in the garden or sit by the back door with the baby; other times she’d spend most of the afternoon in the house, and we’d see her carrying out crates of old-looking memorabilia, like our hard work had inspired her to finally clear out the detritus of an old life that she didn’t lead anymore.

Over those three days, we razed the overgrown garden rows, trimmed back the bushes, and cleared the creeping vines from the side of the house with the old rusted garden tools from the dusty, cobweb-laden wooden bin by the back door. There were several moments where I considered disappearing overnight, dragging an unwilling Petra back home with me before something could go horribly wrong. But every time, the thought of sleeping another night in the treetops and the mental image of Esther waking up one morning to find us gone convinced me to stay, at least until the work was done.

On the morning of the fourth day, Petra and I gathered up our measly belongings from the stable and bid our goodbyes to Esther and the baby, standing between the freshly shorn raspberry bushes with the whole truth sinking into the sun-baked earth unspoken. I began a thousand sentences in my head without finishing any of them, but thankfully, Petra picked up the slack.

“Thank you so much, ma’am, for everything,” she said with a polite nod.

Esther returned her thanks with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Of course, dear. It was nice to have some helping hands around for a few days.”

Petra went in for a quick hug, and if I’d had a heart, I believe it would have leapt into my throat and stayed there, permanently, until I choked on it and died. Instead, I found myself suddenly frozen to the ground where I stood, a thousand panicked thoughts buzzing under my skin until I saw Esther reach her free arm towards me and took a practiced step backward, a trillion possible endings to a million possible nightmares playing out in my head in that one instant.

“Thank you,” I choked out, startling Esther out of the bewildered expression that had crept onto her kind face. “Sincerely, I’ll never be able to thank you enough. More than you will ever know.” I gave her a polite nod to match Petra’s and turned to go, but when we were halfway to the road, she stopped me.

“Ace!” Esther called after me.

I turned around to see her look of confusion soften into something bordering on sorrow.

“I don’t know what it is, and I don’t expect you to tell me,” she began, “but whatever it is, no matter how bad you think it is, it doesn’t matter. You’re always welcome here, if you ever decide to come back. That’s a promise.”

“Please don’t make a promise I can’t expect you to keep, ma’am,” I answered honestly, and then I turned to go, Petra marching solemnly alongside me with her hands clutching the straps of her now full bag.

“You’re good kids, both of you!” Esther shouted, her voice carrying her desperation through the raspberry field down to the road’s edge. “I really mean that!”

I said nothing in return, and looked back only once, to see the baby reaching that chubby hand out toward me from afar. As the tiny house and Esther’s slowly shrinking form began to disappear at our backs, I thought quietly about the argument Petra and I’d had amongst the too-tall weeds that first day, and was left wondering which of us was right.

* * *

Bertrand greeted me with cold indifference when we finally arrived back in the Village of the Heartless. The house was stuffy; it felt more oppressively stark and empty than I remembered, as if I’d been gone for months instead of less than a week. It didn’t seem like Bertrand had eaten much, unless he’d managed to get more food in my absence—the more likely scenario was that he’d been brewing away at failed cure after cure in his study the entire time I had been away. It wasn’t as though he did much else when I was home, for that matter.

The sweltering summer dragged on, slow and sticky like pulled taffy. The weeks passed in much the same way as the ones that came before; Bertrand and I rarely spoke, and I spent long afternoons in the shade of the forest grove having target practice with Petra. She and I had taken to doing odd jobs for the neighbors in exchange for food or supplies, scrubbing kitchen floors on our hands and knees or picking fresh vegetables for the summer harvest until the sun had dappled new freckles across our noses and the tops of our shoulders. Whenever I couldn’t sleep at night (which was often), I’d climb to the top of the oak tree by the village gates with my bow and arrow and wait for someone to show up. No one ever did, aside from Petra—though her escapades were admittedly few now that our days were occupied by work.

Eventually, the days began to grow shorter and the summer heat faded into the crisp early autumn. The leaves on the big oak tree lost their green hue and the air grew drier day by day as the year commenced its twilight march to the cold, dark winter. The mounting tension in our tiny house came to a head on one cool autumn night, when my tired bones finally gave in to the deceitful throes of sleep.

* * *

My parents were very good at hiding the fact that I had no heart in my chest, and they had to be—harboring a Heartless child was against royal decree and would likely get them imprisoned, or worse. The people of Swallow’s Point didn’t suspect a thing, and I was content to keep it that way. I saw no reason to ever be discovered; I was living an ordinary childhood simply by pretending to be ordinary, and it was working.

It was just a beautiful, average day; the neighborhood children were out playing in the grass. In an act of heroics, Basil climbed atop a tree stump, wielding a stick like a pretend sword. We were playing knights, like we always did.

“I’m going to be king!” Basil declared gleefully to our group like a ruler addressing his people.

I turned up my nose and protested, “Basil, we’re all supposed to be knights! That’s the point of the game!”

Basil frowned, fists landing on his scrawny hips. “No, stupid, I mean in real life! I’m going to be king someday!”

"Sure you are,” retorted a kid who reminded me of Knife Boy. “You have to be related to the king to do that.”

Basil shrugged. “Maybe I am.”

“I don’t think so. You’re too weird to be related to King Brutus,” Marcus taunted.

“Don’t speak that way to your future king!” Basil joked, hopping down gracefully from his stump. He landed with a soft thud, worn-out shoes kicking up a cloud of dirt. The dust coated his face and clothes as he and the other boy began play-wrestling in the dirt road where we lived, laughing all the while, and warning bells resounded in my head. I could sense the impending danger from a mile away; it was an instinct I had been honing even throughout the most carefree years of my life, in case I ever needed it.

"Basil,” I muttered, hoping he would hear me and no one else, “maybe you shouldn’t—”

I stopped short, choking on my own breath as the group went dead silent. Marcus had gone to push Basil away and in doing so had placed a hand to Basil’s empty chest. He froze that way, eyes wide, and Basil paled considerably, realizing the gravity of what was happening. The moment cemented itself in my mind’s eye as tension soaked into the air, heavy and still.

“Why were you tricking us this whole time?” Marcus grumbled in a voice too low and too angry to ever come from a child. “You’re cursed! You could doom our whole village!”

“I just wanted friends,” was Basil’s whispered reply, so quiet I almost didn’t hear him. I saw him take a deep breath, chest rising, and then he spoke again, this time louder, bolder, “It shouldn’t matter! We were all friends until just now when you decided something was wrong with me! But that doesn’t change what I’ve always been!”

The entire group of children, save for myself, turned on him in an instant.

I backed further and further away from the scene but couldn’t look away, and in my mind’s eye their pretend-sword sticks became distorted until they resembled Knife Boy’s grimy dagger. I reasoned with myself, assuring myself that he was spry enough, light enough on his feet to escape. But poor, ten-year-old, Heartless Basil who had just declared himself king stared me dead in the eyes with a look that told me to run. So I did. He was foolish to let his guard down, I told myself. It was his own fault for becoming complacent. I almost convinced myself it was true.

“Ace! Ace, wake up!”

I jolted awake, the residual terror warping the shadows cast by the lantern light into something macabre. It took a moment to will my body to move; my limbs had been reduced to lead, like if I played dead whatever demons haunted my sleep could not hurt me.

“Fuck,” I finally choked out, the hoarseness in my voice making me realize I had been screaming. I hadn’t woken up screaming from a nightmare in years, and it was at that point that I at last noticed Bertrand hovering beside my cot, the soft light from the lantern illuminating his stony features. There was something genuine in his expression—I realized belatedly that it was concern, and for some reason, it made me uncomfortable. Bertrand did not admonish me for my language, but instead stared at me patiently, expectantly, and somehow that made it worse.

"Sorry," I rasped. "For waking you."

Bertrand shook his head. “I was not asleep,” was all he said.

It occurred to me that Bertrand was the only living soul to whom I had ever told the details about Basil’s disappearance and the day I left Swallow’s Point. I had spilled to him one night as a child, the first time I woke him in the middle of the night with my screaming. He hadn’t said much, but he’d made me a cup of hot tea and let me lay my ten-year-old soul bare to him despite the ungodly hour. It had helped at the time, but it didn’t feel like an option now. I tried to steady my breathing, but I couldn’t, not with him looking at me so earnestly like that; it was as though my blood itself were vibrating just under my skin.

“I need to take a walk,” I said, swinging my legs over the side of the cot and reaching for my shoes. I met Bertrand’s gaze, daring him to challenge me, but though he said nothing, his expression softened into a sort of resigned understanding.

“Are you sure you’re in any condition to do that?” he finally asked as I was putting on my cloak with trembling limbs.

“No,” I responded shakily, walking out the door unarmed.

Once I was outside, the fresh air immediately took some of the edge off, and I walked a short ways before my legs gave out like a newborn deer’s and I flopped backward onto the grass. I inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, in and out several times until my breathing began to steady into something approaching normal.

This couldn’t go on any longer. I needed answers, some form of closure, someone to tell me straight to my face to get lost or die for all they cared, something more tangibly final than the memories that haunted me.

That night, I made a rash decision: I had to return home to see my parents.

When I eventually struggled to my feet and headed back inside, Bertrand was nowhere to be seen, but there was a mug of freshly brewed tea waiting on the table, the kettle still steaming on the stove as the crackling fire slowly burned out.

#the heartless #aro #aromantic #aro writing #aro writers #aspec writing #aspec writers #writeblr #op

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annelisterofhalifax · 3 years

Text

More measurements,Coal and Water

Sat[urday] 28

8.10

11 3/4

No kiss Fine morn[in]g F 45° AT 8.55 at w[hi]ch h[ou]r br[eak]f[a]st. Out fr[om] 9 1/2 to n[ea]r 12 w[i]th the 3 Manns

John, Rob[er]t and Joseph and stood talk[in]g to t[he]m whi[le] th[e]y drank t[hei]r beer in the upper kitchen

till 12.10. W[e]nt up to Walker pit to see wh[a]t Pickells sh[oul]d do at gin race, they h[a]d staked

out the line of gall or jumble running thro[ugh] conery wood and the direct[io]n of wat[e]r level and w[e]nt

to see the stakes. T[he]n ca[me] d[o]wn to the draw well, and they drew out the cover even on the top of it the line of

wat[e]r lev[e]l. N[or]th and South and East and West board of the coal, the line of gall or trouble

and of the drift we are driv[in]g up to Walker pit. Drew out als[o], the lines of due N[or]th, S[ou]th East

and West and we talk[e]d ov[e]r the chances of gett[in]g mo[re] wat[e]r by driv[in]g anoth[e]r drift to

cross the gall low[e]r d[o]wn in the coal bed, and t[he]n get mo[re] [dri]v]e and mo[re] sipe [drain] of water.

** Our pres[en]t drift up to Walker pit, is fr[om] mouth to vent-pit 43 y[ar]ds

i.e fr[om] m[ou]th to where we begin driv[in]g in the dirt band 43 y[ar]ds,

Dist[an]ce fr[om] Drift- mouth to where the drift crosses the gall 77 + 43 = 120 y[ar]ds

no wat[e]r till aft[e]r driv[in]g so[me] dist[an]ce in the dirt band and n[o]t m[u]ch till aft[e]r cross[in]g the gall

our pres[en]t free run, t[ha]t n[o]t forced i.e [that is] runn[in]g quiet[l]y as it does, will fill a 2 in[ch] bore pipe,

f[ou]nd at the back of the gall. Br[ea]dth of gall =

Fr[om] gall to gett[in]g out of dirt band ab[ou]t 140 y[ar]ds

Fr[om] gett[in]g out of dirt band to Walker pit ab[ou]t 35 y[ar]ds ∴ no wat[e]r or ver[y] lit[tle] being

f[ou]nd till we g[e]t behind the gall we drove 120 y[ar]ds bef[ore] gett[in]g the wat[e]r.

The Manns th[in]k I sh[oul]d get as m[u]ch mo[re] wat[e]r by cross[in]g the gall at a low[e]r point in the coal

stratum and driv[in]g behind the gall ab[ou]t 200 y[ar]ds. It w[oul]d be best to set in ab[o]ve the pres[en]t

drift on a lev[e]l w[i]th the sycam[ore] stand[in]g at the end of the wall on t[hi]s side of the r[oa]d bey[on]d the well

und[e]r the gr[ea]t sycam[ore]. We sh[oul]d be at the gall in ab[ou]t 100 y[ar]ds and t[he]n sh[oul]d dri[ve] 200 y[ar]ds farth[e]r.

Th[i]s wat[e]r w[oul]d co[me] in at a level 7 f[ee]t high[e]r t[ha]n the wat[e]r fr[om] the pres[en]t drift, if we want

the pres[en]t wat[e]r to co[me] out for the sake of go[in]g to the house, at a high[e]r lev[e]l m[u]st drive

a cross drift 45 to 50 y[ar]ds long. If I ta[ke] the upp[e]r bed wat[e]r off in a goit to

Mytholm engine pit, John Mann th[in]ks I shall ha[ve] ver[y] lit[tle] wat[e]r to lift, t[ha]t I shall ha[ve]

plenty of pow[e]r to spare, t[hi]s w[oul]d suit me. I m[i]ght get en[ou]gh for a mill for Aquilla

Green? rem[ember] he wants 20 horse pow[e]r to turn 3 p[ai]r of stones. M[u]ch talk ab[ou]t

the tail goit fr[om] engine pit. Rob[er]t Mann agrees w[i]th me, it sh[oul]d be wide in proport[io]n to the

+ - reference to literary text * - original was pencil drawn and written V- Visit ** - Walker pit drift obs[erved] on gett[in]g mo]re wat[e]r

1835 M[ar]ch width of the wheel, a 3 f[ee]t 6 in[ches] goint n[o]t en[ou]gh for a 6 f[ee]t wide wheel, mo[re] like[l]y a 5 f[ee]t wide goit, sh[oul]d be 30 in[ches] high. T[he]n suppo[se] 2 f[ee]t 6 in[ches] high by 5 f[ee]t wide at bot[tom] w[i]th good rag cov[e]r 5 or 6 in[ches] thick and good rag bottoms 3 to 4 in[ches] thick and 6 f[ee]t 6 in[ches] long. T[hi]s w[oul]d ma[ke] a bet[ter] job t[ha]n wall[in]g and arch[in]g near the surf[a]ce. W[oul]d be ab[ou]t 100 y[ar]ds of t[hi]s and the * oth[e]r 60 w[oul]d be a com[mon] drift mere[l]y want a lit[tle] arch[in]g n[ea]r the engine pit and wheel. Stocks advertis[in]g a drift and pit to let, mean[in]g to loose Swaine’s coal. The Manns will push on w[i]th Walker pit, may bot[tom] it by the end of July. I want to be ready for next Spring York assizes, t[ha]t I may kn[ow] wh[a]t to do ab[ou]ts Spiggs etc. Sat talk[in]g to A-[Ann] fr[om] 12.10 to 12.50 t[he]n till 1.35 wr[ote] the ab[ov]e of the day N t[he]n wr[ote] as foll[ow]s to ‘Mr Ja[me]s Holt, High Roydes’ Shibd[e]n Hall D=Sat[urday] 28 M[ar]ch 1835. Sir ‘ The[re] are so[me] diffic[ultie]s ab[ou]t my gett[in]g stone at the Hipper[holm] quarry, in conseq[uen]ce of w[hi]ch I shall be ‘ oblig[e]d to you to stop putt[in]g out the handbills as agreed. Do n[o]t splice a rope for Walker pit ‘ you h[a]d bet[ter] ord[e]r anoth[e]r new one of Crapper. I am sinc[erely] etc etc etc A Lister’ Had Vc Mrs Wat[er]h[ou]se fr[om] 1 3/4 to 2 1/2, she call[e]d up[on] A-[Ann] and me and to collect so[me] subcript[io]n fr[om] Mar[ia]n, c[oul]d n[o]t get A-[Ann] or me to gi[ve] h[e]r an[y]th[in]g exc[ept] A-s [Anns] subs[cripti]on of a 100 g[uinea]s a y[ea]r to the national schools. Ga[ve] my no[te], as ab[ov]e, to Geo[rge] to ta[ke] to the Woolpack, b[u]t if Holt sh[oul]d n[o]t be t[he]re, to ta[ke] the note to High Roydes. Out w[i]th A-[Ann] at 3 1/4 al[on]g the walk and Low[e]r brea and Leeds and Whitehall r[oa]ds and up A-s [Ann’s] Lidg[a]te f[iel]ds int[o] Bramley Lane to see Rob[er]t Schof[iel]d, this man finish[in]g A-s[Ann’s] new wall[in]g t[he]re. So[me] ti[me] w[i]th t[he]m, in ret[urnin]g turn[e]d d[o]wn Stony Lane to Mytholm. Thorp and jun[io]r and his man h[a]d been t[he]re sow[in]g peas, b[u]t gone at 5 1/4. A-[Ann] and I st[oo]d a lit[tle] whi[le] look[in]g ab[ou]t. Ho[me] at 5 3/4, h[a]d Pickells. He s[ai]d Washingt[o]n h[a]d so[me] int[ere]st of his own in wish[in]g me to ha[ve] stones fr[om] A-s [Ann’s] Hipperholm quarry. S[ai]d I h[a]d ** N giv[e]n up the idea. Talk ab[ou]t the Tail-goit, P- [Pickells says he will do it at 2/. [shillings] a y[ar]d as far as it is an op[e]n goit i.e. up to the driv[in]g, s[ai]d I w[oul]d th[in]k ab[ou]t it. Holt h[a]d let it once ov[e]r to the Manns, let it to wall and arch at 4/6 p[e]r y[ar]d. P- [Pickells] w[ould] ta[ke] the dam to do, says Mawson says he is to ha[ve] all the work, he, Mawson and Washingt[o]n join at jobs. S.W [Samuel Washington] val[ue]d t[he]m, M-[Mawson] ta[ke]s t[he]m and they go shares und[er] ha[a]nd – n[o]t improb[able]. S.W [Samuel Washington] offend[e]d for so[me]th[in]g or oth[e]r at P- [Pickells]. S[ai]d I w[oul]d let the dam by tick[e]t nobod[y] know[in]g the bidd[in]gs b[u]t Mr Parker and mys[elf]. W[oul]d n[o]t bind mys[elf] to ta[ke] the high[e]st bidder. W[oul]d let the job mys[elf] to wh[o]m I chose. Din[ner] at 6 1/2, coff[ee], ca[me] up st[ai]rs at 7.40 r[ea]d today’s H-X [Halifax] guardian, wr[ote]the last 13 lines till 8.40 t[he]n r[ea]d the Lond[on] pap[e]r morn[in]g Herald N till 9.55. h[a]d h[a]d Pickells at 8 3/4 for a few min[ute]s, br[i]ght ver[y] civ[i]l no[te] fr[om] Appleyard to say t[ha]t mess[e]rs Hen[r]y Bates and son of Washerlane made his wheel 40 f[ee]t diam[ete]r by 4 f[ee]t 6 in[ches] wide and Mr Illingworth coal-owner superintend[e]d the work[in]g of the mine. Fine day F now at 10 p.m * - Tail goit N – Note Vc – Visit **-Tail goit vid[e]

#AnneLister ShibdenHall Walkerpit WYAS

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whatdoesshedotothem · 2 years

Text

Tuesday 26 June 1838

5 ¾

10 20

fine morning F67 ½° at 6 ¾ - our Hotel de France very good – the best we have been at yet since Paris – off from Poitiers at 7 5 – thro’ narrow but better streets than last night, and pretty level – passed the grille barrier gate at 7 10 – fine extensive plane all around Poitiers – one might very well make headquarters à l’hotel de France à Poitiers for a week or 10 days, if one had so much time at disposal

(Wednesday Morning à Ruffec, 28 June 1838) and see the old Roman aqueduct ¼ lieue s. pr*s d’une maison [nominée] l’ermitage – and at ¼ de lieue N. Pierre Levée monument celtique – and 1 lieue distant better old abbey of Noaillè and village of Beauvoir le champ de Maupertuis on se donna la bataille de Maupertuis on de Poitiers 1356 at which John King of France was taken prisoner – another Pierre levée near the village of Bellefaye sur l’ancien chemin de P- à Mirebeau – See also at 8 l. from P- Montmorillon and curious mass of old masonry (‘immense étendue de terrain convenient de plusieur couches de pierre’) near the town of Civeau d’l’arrondement of Montmorillon and see Civray again - on la Charente river in the most fertile part of the department – Church dedicated au vrain Dieu sous Charlemagne – vid. A-‘s nouevelle guide Voyageur in France curious old temple monument at Montmorillon

Croutelle picturesque village at 7 27 and a little damp and small rain spite of the cool breeze or window asleep – Vivonne ill built village – alight to breakfast at the far end of the village aux trois Piliers at 8 ½ by my watch the people said it was only 8 10 – Dirty noisy house – waited ½ hour and wrote out ½ of yesterday – breakfast sans nappe – good milk in very dirty white jug, and good butter and café, and ½ toasted bread and a long roll of yesterday at least for which charged 4/. instead of 3/. so would only give la fille ./20 - - she had burst open the door into the room when we were after breakfast – and in another were a fille and a postillion – riot and noises in all directions – A- and I did job in one room – off from Vivonne at 10 18 red, sandy road – hilly – wood,

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and grass and corn – oat and barley very short and thin – what will A- become she is very little companionable always poorly or out of sorts ssomeway – wants to be quiet – she is like a millstone round my neck – Le minières at 10 50 poor village – small drizzling rain – walnut and cherry trees along the road sides – goodish oak wood, and, park wise, some magnificent Spanish chestnuts the 1st I have observed and green hedges here and there – red sandy marly ? land, and now 11 25 1st plants I have observed of bled de Turquie – nice well wooded, fine, comfortable looking country but ‘sol calcare et peu fertile’ at 11 ½ good stone bridge over Dive river a broad shallow brook, and good little village Couché-Verac at 11 tolerable little [bong] – nice large old marché – heavy round tiled roof on heavy stone piliers – fine avenue of Spanish chestnuts and walnuts along from Couché V- and fine, wide, extensive wooded country – red sandy stony land – very little depth of soil – not more than 2 or 3 in. apparently and that full of calcareous stone – Chaunoy at 12 40 picturesque straggling village – Maisons blanches at 1 18 small good straggling village – at 1 35 leaving the two servants with the carriage A- and I off to Civray in crazy old chaise de poste with postilion and 2 horses tout compris for 20/. there and back as agreed with the old post master (né 1766 aetatis 72 and his wife 76) – 3 lieues but the road newly made, a great highroad (route départmenentale) .:. would charge 2 postes there and 2 ditto back – would take us 1 ½ hour to go and the same to return – I had told A- that I feared we should not be repaid and that if we went on without this delay, we might sleep at Angoulême – however she preferred going and going in the chaise de p. – Bon! off we were and such a [?] jolting I had never had in my life – to be sure we went there in ¾ hour (about 7 miles English not more certainly) and returned the same – but somehow anything hung on springs could knock about so terribly I could not imagine for the road was actually good and smooth – no ruts – occasionally newly but well and small broken flints – nothing to jolt on in anything even as good as a Russian Telega? I thought of poor Cochrane so jolted on his return to Moscow that he spat blood for sometime afterwards – I soon found sitting intolerable so made my legs carry me and leaned against the seat stopping my head which saved me shock of the from the jolting, and merely heated me by the uncomfortableness of the position (there and back) I never spoke nor looked at A- who, however, sat and bore it, and landed at Civray looking as if she had come unhurt – market day – our hotel (trois piliers) all alive with country people – we had a large 2 or bedded chamber au 1er – very old house like all the rest in the grande Place – our windows faced the very curious old church – ordered an omelette for A- to be ready when we came in, and then off to church – A-sat within sketching the interior – not worth it, but I said nothing fearing the heat of the sun outside – the oldest tomb inscription (one of the floor-flags all much worn) I could find was 1427 – no inscriptions save on the floor-flags and these much worn – the interior evidently added long after the old front towards the grande place – this I should suppose to be du temps des Empereurs Romanes – an old 3 arch gateway or façade of Basilica or what – very interesting –the middle archway considerably larger than the 2 side archways – all rich in sculpture – the side archways – 3 moulding each of leafwork and a cockatrice border? but the middle arch very rich – 4 moudlings – leaves figures – cockatrices – lotus? I cannto tell the order of the top moulding tho’ a good deal mutilated, evidently a old very curios representation of the zodiac – as I stood facing the door beginning at the left was

1 Aquarius. a man sitting in a chair and another astride of his head pouring out a pitcher of water

2 Pisces. a man sitting (with his shoes off-placed at his right foot and looking like strong ¼ boots of the present day) and two fishes over his head.

3................. a man standing at something the branchy trunk of a tree, and a goat over his head.

4................ a human figure and leaves and a bird on one stone

5................ and 2 animals on 2 stones above no. 4

6 gemini

7............. 1 stone leafy

8......... virgo

9......... cancer forming the crown stone of the arch (a round arch) –

10........... then 8 stones on the 1st a human head with short horns: on the other stone figures and indistinct –

11 ........... one man with a basket on his shoulders (of grapes?) and another standing in a round tub behind him (wine press?) and

12 scorpio (Scorpion) underneath

13............. two stones

14............... Archer ½ beast the upper ½ man with bow (and arrow?)

15...........Indistinct stone

16............2 oxen eating out of one oblong trough

17........... 2 stones indistinct

over the 3 arches is a broad entablature with large figures and left side (facing the arches) a large hoses much mutilated our hostess there used to be a prince on his back but at the grande revolution he was destroyed – the sculpture altogether good – the figures round the lowest moulding of the great consists of well done figures in basso-relievo – Roman costume? above the entablature is a moulding along the whole front as if forming the top finish – very curious remain, see it again and have no time and less jolting – the church is built up on all sides save to the grande Place with stables and houses – the clocher has been recently repaired and several other little repairs have been done – one descends into the church by 4 or 5 deep steps – went along the left side the church (supposing me standing facing the west end) along narrow dirty passage the way to stables, and stood sketching an

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old gothic round headed window (but not of the date of the west front) – struck with the window head formed of 9 stones about 3 ½ or 4in. broad inside circumference – each stone rounded or fluted in 4 flutes and the convex of one stone put against the concave of its neighbour so as to form these dots 14 on each side the middle dot, liek nail-heads finished to a point in right 3 sided (prismatic) rays a b 2 elephants with saddle like that and girth all round (across the chest of the animal) on the opposite capital merely [?] the trunks of the 2 animals mutilated but distinguishable – this window looks very ancient, and as the building was consecrated au vrai Dieu sous Charlemagne, may date from this period?

fine country to Civray but red soil not more than 3 or 4 in. deep to the calcareous rock – good road – fine well-wooded country

went in with A- at 3 to see that her omelette was ready then left her for about ½ hour to take another look at the curious west front of the church, and made the tour of the grande place and its old round tile covered wood pilier supported rough paved marché full of little peasant traders and their stables with coarse clothes woollen and linen and pots and pans and bled (corn) etc.

the mistress of the house tells me the country has no commerce but in bled, and a large family has hard to do to live – the new road will do them good and several gentlemen have already come to her house to sketch the church – building a new hotel de ville – Civray being the chief lieue d’l’arrondissement – the old castle (chateau fort) destroyed during la grande revolution – A- took a little sketch of teh curious façade from our windows – off home again at 4 25 and at Maison blanches at 5 7 jolted as before – A- began to look a little dismal but I said nothing – she had a little of Noyau in the carriage – leaned back, lay down on reaching Ruffec till dinner and seemed even better than usual afterwards – herself proposed walking in the garden and the little tour in the town afterwards – stood talking at the maitre de poste at Maisons Blanches till off again from there at 5 20 – he said the 2 hotels at Ruffect were both good (les amabassaders and la Poste – glad to have come to the latter) he mentioned the hotel des ambassaders at Bordeaux and hotel des ministres but on my naming the hotel de Rouen said it was quite new – very good – but being quite new one could hardly say if it was well monté – not much company had passed this way yet – Just out of maison blanches 2 mares with a young mule each – beautiful road – shaded by fine walnut and Spanish chesnut trees and thro’ forest chiefly of the latter and oak – hilly road at 6 pm meet Paysanne on horseback astride as at the Pyrenees – at Ruffec at 6 10 – dinner downstairs at 7 – out at 8 in the garden then sauntering about in the old narrow streeted, boulder stone paved town – no idea the town had been so large – building a nice hotel de ville near in the little grande Place – luckily we found the church – several steps (8? + 4 down to the church door from the street) down into it – very ancient west front in the style of that at Civray but less rich and rather smaller altogether – however very interesting and apparently of the same period – home at 9 ¼ - F67° at 9 ¾ pm small drizzling rain in the morning fine from about 1 pm for the rest of the day

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seven-spirits-of-light · 3 years

Text

The Barian Invasion - Avina

Avina cheered as Yuma delivered the finishing blow to Heartland. God, she could watch that asshole eat shit over and over again! Except… his sudden and spontaneous combustion put an abrupt end to that. She stood in shock with everyone else, her jaw dropped in horrified awe. She then realized that Kite was still down, and Yuma was definitely hurtin’ and she went to them.

“Are you guys okay? God, fucking Barians blatantly cheating by putting you in a field that does actual, physical damage to you.” She spat, causing Yuma to chuckle.

“Ah, it’s nothin I can’t handle. I just gotta feel the flow!” He grinned, making the pop star giggle. Before she could say anything more, the huge pillar of light over the ocean caused the world to rumble, and 7 different sparks of light burst from it, flying directly at the group. Avina screamed, pulling Yuma down and covering Kite’s head with her body as best she could. The flying lights slammed into the towering cranes and walls, throwing dust and rock everywhere before gathering together on the wall above the cowering group. She looked up, her eyes fiery with rage, her brain immediately recognizing Vector, Dumon, Mizar, Alito and Girag.

“HEY! DO YOU ASSLORDS HAVE NO DECENCY? YOU COULDA KILLED US!! WHAT’S THE BIG ID-“ she barked, but stopped. It had taken a second… but her mind was finally registering that there were 2 more in the group of Barians.

Two she recognized.

“O-oh… god.” Vance breathed, his eyes wide too.

“Sh-… Shark?” Avina finally spoke. She couldn’t comprehend what she was seeing. There he was. Her Shark. Her boyfriend. The man who held her heart, who made her laugh, who made her smile, who held her when she cried and who could calm her when she raged. There he was, his sister right beside him. The girl her own brother loved more than anything in this world and the next. They stood up with the enemy, glaring down at everyone they had called ‘friend.’

“'Shark?' Feels like ages since anyone called me that…” he finally spoke. Avina gave a breathless laugh, slowly rising to her feet.

“Aha… Ages? Babe I… it’s only been like a day. C’mon, quit fooling around. Like… we’ve got kind of a serious situation here. Do you, uh… wanna explain what’s up with… them? I-I mean… are they on our side now or… something like that?” She asked nervously, her eyes flicking between the other 6 before returning to Shark.

“Hardly, love. You see… Shark was my old name. I am Nasch, Leader of the Seven Barian Emperors, and this world is now ours! You all should surrender now, it would be in your best interest.” He spoke, his voice carrying that unwavering tone she was all too familiar with. As he said this, her eyes welled with tears, and her jaw dropped before clenching shut. She lowered her head, trying to hide her tears.

“You… y-you… you rotten, lying, BACKSTABBING, TWO-FACED SON OF A BITCH!! YOU BASTARD!! YOU SERIOUSLY CHOOSE THEM OVER US!? OVER ME!? FUCK YOU, JUDAS!!” she cried out, her face twisted with rage but eyes pouring with tears.

“I promise you, love, I haven’t chosen them over you. In fact, I intend to have you join us. I promise you, we will be together forever. Nothing will ever be able to part us again.” He said, though his words did little to soothe her. Quite the opposite in fact. Avina made like she was going to charge at him, but Vance luckily caught her, holding her back. He too was crying, unable to remove his eyes from his beloved Rio… the girl who had betrayed him and come to see his destruction. Yuma then rose, trying to reason with Shark, but he took it one step further, revealing to everyone present the undeniable proof of his new alliance. Shark Barian-phosed, along with Rio and the other 5. Not long after he did this, Sha- Nasch and Yuma seemed to share some sort of memory with one another, and Yuma was unable to handle the shock, passing out on the dock. When the pop star saw this, she was agitated further, fighting hard against Vance’s hold to get to the man who had betrayed her love, her trust. Vance held fast though, trying to pull her back toward the Arclight’s vehicle.

“Avina… Avina that’s not gonna help anything. Let’s get out of here, it’s not safe.” Vance urged, pulling his heartbroken sister with him. As they finally drove off, Avina curled into her brother’s chest, the adopted siblings both grieving the loss and betrayal of the ones they loved so dearly.

If only the knew just how much worse things were going to get…

————————————————————

Avina’s chest shuddered with her silent sobs while her brother sat and held her, tears rolling down his cheeks too, too numb to do much else. The pop start could physically feel her heart breaking in her chest, and for a moment… she feared that she would actually die from heartbreak. For a while, the car was silent. No one really knew what to say… everyone was in shock. Shark. Ryouga Kamishiro. Their good friend, Avina’s boyfriend… he had betrayed them. Left them to fight alongside the ones who had been harassing them for months and had been actively trying to kill Astral. Avina was definitely in the worst shape of all. After everything she and Shark had been through… he chose those stone faced assholes over her, over his friends! The people who had stood by his side when no one else would! Not only that… but he planned to turn her into some stone faced monster, too. She wanted nothing more than for this nightmare to end. She wanted to go back home, lay in her bed with her boyfriend and listen to music.

But that wasn’t possible… not anymore. He’d made his choice. He had chose them over her.

Avina’s sorrow turned quickly back to rage and resolve. Nasch wasn’t going to win. No matter what.

Avina glanced out the window, a terrified gasp leaving her as she saw who was pursuing them. Nasch! Nasch and Merag!! Oh fuck, ALL SEVEN were there! They were chasing their vehicle and she could see Nasch and Merag looking right at them! Avina couldn’t stop the look of horror on her face. She turned away, frantically thinking of what she could do when she quickly realized what she had to do.

“V! Stop the car!” She called, causing the white-haired man to jump.

“What! No! Why!?” He asked, glancing back at her as if she were mad.

“They’re chasing us, and if they catch up to this car, they’re gonna get their hands on ALL of us. You have to stop and let me out! I can draw him away. Please! We can’t let Nasch get his hands on either Yuma or Astral, and god forbid he gets them BOTH. So don’t fucking argue with me, and stop the goddamn car.” Avina explained, her franticness making her hiss out the last bit. V looked hesitant, looking to his little brother, but neither III nor anyone else in the vehicle offered any objections.

With a resolute nod, Avina scooted over to the door, taking the handle and preparing to launch herself out of the car once it had stopped, not noticing as Vance prepared to jump from the car too. V hit the breaks, turning just so that she had quick access to an alleyway, and came to a stop. Avina jerked the door open, throwing herself out and onto the street, yelping when Vance followed. She opened her mouth to protest, but when she spotted the seven eerily glowing figures quickly approaching, she huffed, closing the door and grabbing Vance’s wrist.

The adopted siblings took off in a direction adjacent to the vehicle, running into the shows of the alley. Sure enough, the Emperors seemed to pause, and three broke off from the group, following Avina and Vance while the other four continued chasing the vehicle. Fuck. Ok, well, four is better than all seven… and it looked like Nasch and Merag along with one other had decided to follow her and Vance, so the Barians didn’t have their powerhouse leader. Avina prayed that her friends would all be safe as she continued to run. The pop star could see them swooping down closer, and so she began to dip and weave in and out of alleys and behind the many towering buildings of Heartland City. She was gasping for breath, and her sides screamed at her, but she refused to stop. Not yet.

It seemed like an eternity until, finally, she glanced behind them and didn’t see any of the Emperors. Avina pulled Vance with her, hiding in an alley and crouching down in the darkest corners so they could catch their breath. She motioned to Vance to be quiet, creeping forward slightly. Avina could hear footsteps, and out in the street she spotted just who had accompanied Nasch and Merag. It was Dumon, Nasch’s little fanboy. He was looking around, but luckily seemed to have lost them. She couldn’t help the cocky little smirk on her face.

For a moment, she thought she’d won…

That was until she heard the terrifyingly familiar sound of a portal ripping open behind her, and a pair of large, purple stony hands wrapped around her waist.

Avina shrieked, turning to see a similar pair of white stone hands latching around Vance’s chest. She screamed bloody murder, reaching out for her brother and fighting hard against the grip around her.

”NO!! VAAAANCE!!!”

And then gravity was gone. She felt like she couldn’t breathe. She was so scared. She had no choice but to cling desperately to her kidnapper.

————————————————————

The Barian King stepped out of the portal carrying the trembling human in his arms, looking around his room. It was elegant yet simply decorated, and in any other situation, he thought Avina might have liked it. He hoped she would still… this was to be her new home after all. Nasch looked down at her, a gorgeous wine-colored gown now draped over her slim figure, a silver metal bust encircling her abdomen. She truly looked like the queen she was meant to be.

“You can open your eyes, love. We’re home now.” He murmured, nuzzling her with his mouthless muzzle. Avina’s eyes flew open and she gasped, looking around before shoving away from him.

“How dare you!? HOW FUCKING DARE YOU!?! YOU- YOU-- YOU BASTARD!! You terrorized all of our friends, you betrayed Yuma, you betrayed me! God, don’t you love me at all!? Am I just- am I just a fucking object to you!? A prize to be won! An item to possess!?” She spat, her furious amethyst eyes boring into him.

“No… you’re… you’re my bride.” Nasch replied.

“Your bride. You seriously think that I would ever WILLINGLY associate with you at all after everything you’ve done, let alone marry you!?” Avina retorted, crossing her arms over her chest. She then paused, glancing down at herself, going silent for a beat too long. Finally, she spoke, her words dripping with seething anger.

”Where… the fuck… are my clothes? What the FUCK is this!?” She growled, her hands clenched into fists.

“You don’t need those rags anymore. You’re going to be a queen, Avina. You deserve the finery befitting a queen. You should see yourself… you look stunning.” Nasch answered evenly. He was trying desperately to keep up the heartless Barian façade, but it was so much harder with her here. She looked so hurt, so upset, so uncomfortable. While she did look beautiful… it was also unnatural.

“Jesus… you really don’t fucking care at all, do you?” She breathed, her heart squeezing painfully in her chest. “God… god I had hoped so desperately that some how, some way, you… the you I know was still in there. But… but he’s gone. My Shark… he’d never try to turn me into something I’m not. He’d never betray his friends. He’d never stoop as low as you.” She wrapped her arms around her torso, hugging herself tightly. In the red glowing light, Nasch could see the trails of tears streaking down her cheeks, and he could no longer maintain the mask. Not in front of her.

“Avina… I… I do care. I know in your anger, you see me and Ryouga as two different people and… while that is true in a way, I promise you I am the same man that you fell in love with. The truth is I really… don’t want to do this. ANY of this. I never wanted to betray my friends, or Yuma… or especially you. But I can’t deny what I am. There are so many souls here that need me, souls that can’t rest until I defeat all threats to our world. Did your Ryouga not share that same dedication?” He asked.

Avina turned away, not seeing the pain in his mismatched eyes.

“It doesn’t have to be like this… I still love you. I love you so deeply. I know you still love me… I can see it in your eyes.” The Emperor continued, approaching her. The hand that was placed on her shoulder wasn’t one of stone… it was flesh. Avina jumped slightly.

“You know I want you

It’s not a secret I try to hide

I know you want me

So don't keep sayin' our hands are tied.” his voice came drifting to her ear, warm and inviting and distinctly human.

“You claim it's not in the cards

And fate is pullin' you miles away

And out of reach from me

But you're here in my heart

So who can stop me if I decide

That you're my destiny?”

Avina turned to him, looking up into his beautiful deep blue eyes, his face once more human and no longer the strange featureless muzzle he had revealed to them all. Nasch took her into his arms, dancing slowly with her as he continued to sing those sweet and loving words to her.

“What if we rewrite the stars?

Say you were made to be mine

Nothing could keep us apart

You’d be the one I was meant to find

It’s up to you, and it's up to me

No one can say what we get to be

So why don't we rewrite the stars?

Maybe the world could be ours

Tonight.” He spun her once before pulling her close again, leaning down to kiss her. Avina felt herself leaning forward, wanting to accept his kiss. She suddenly realized where she was and what was happening, and in an instant, she ducked, sliding out of his arms. The pop star walked away, desperately trying to catch her breath and stop her head from spinning.

"You think it's easy

You think I don't wanna run to you?” she sang, slowly looking over her shoulder.

”But there are mountains

And there are doors that we can't walk through” Avina turned back to him fully.

”I know you're wondering why because we're able to be

Just you and me within these walls

But when we go outside, you're gonna wake up and see

That it was hopeless after all…” She turned to the large double door to Nasch’s room, her hands resting on the handles for a moment before shoving with all her might, pushing them open. Avina wasn’t entirely sure where she was going, but the huge staircase at the end of the hallway seemed to be a good bet. Where it lead, she didn’t know, but it was certainly better than just staying stuck in this room. She knew she couldn’t actually run… but even moving around a little helped alleviate some of her anxiety.

The words continued to pour from her heart as she walked out of the room, knowing Nasch would follow.

”No one can rewrite the stars

How can you say you'll be mine?

Everything keeps us apart

And I'm not the one you were meant to find” She began ascending the stairs, her skirt lifted so she wouldn’t trip. Avina looked up, noticing some of the other Barians standing in what must be the main throne room, her sadness switching to irritation. She stopped, whipping around to motion between herself and Nasch.

”It’s not up to you

It’s not up to me

When everyone tells us what we can be!” She spat, shooting a glare at Dumon and Girag. The two Barians looked back at her with open wariness and confusion, the Barian Knight looking back at his king. Avina huffed, turning away from them all and walking further into the throne room. This is probably where it would end. Nasch wouldn’t sacrifice his dignity to sing with her, especially in front of the other Barians. Her shoulders dropped, head lowering.

“How can we rewrite the stars?

Say that the world can be ours

Tonight?” she sang. When she continued… she was shocked to hear another voice join hers. Avina turned, seeing Nasch coming towards her, still singing! Their voices harmonized beautifully, and for a moment, she was able to forget where she was entirely.

”All I want is to fly with you

All I want is to fall with you

So just give me all of you!”

”It feels impossible…” She sang.

”It’s not impossible!” He replied, reaching out to her.

”Is it impossible?” She asked, her eyes turning hopeful.

”Say that it's possible!” Their voices joined again as he finally reached her, taking her hand and holding her close. Ryouga smiled, pulling her up the stairs leading to his throne.

”How do we rewrite the stars?

Say you were made to be mine?

Nothing can keep us apart

'Cause you are the one I was meant to find!” They reached the top, and he danced with her, spinning her and holding her close.

”It's up to you

And it's up to me

No one can say what we get to be

And why don't we rewrite the stars?

Changing the world to be ours!” Their voices rang out, uncaring of who heard or who saw, standing close to one another, relishing in one another’s warmth and comfort. Ryouga leaned down to kiss her, and Avina smiled, ready to kiss him in return. This time she was stopped by the feeling of a pendant lying on his chest. The Barian pendant. That’s right… This was Nasch. She stopped him, pushing him back slightly. He looked down at her in confusion, and Avina couldn’t help the bitter smile that made it’s way onto her face.

”You know I want you…

It’s not a secret I try to hide

But I can't have you…” Avina sang softly, her thumb running over the red gem in the center. The sensation startled Nasch so much, he found himself suddenly Barian-phosed, changed back into the towering stone creature he had chosen to be instead of the human man that could be with her.

”We’re bound to break and my hands… are tied.” She finished sadly, pulling away from him and walking back down the stairs, looking out one of the huge archways overlooking the Great Barian Sea.

————————————————————

Avina looked out at the deep red landscape below, her heart aching, trying desperately not to cry. God… for a moment, for just a moment, she felt connected to him again. She felt like she was singing with Ryouga and not the heartless Barian King. She began to wonder if… if maybe they really weren’t so different after all. God, she didn’t want to think about this madness anymore. She just wanted it to end! She wanted to go back home, with her human boyfriend. But the longer she was on this strange planet, the stronger this feeling of dread grew.

Something terrible was about to happen.

Nasch approached her from behind, reaching out to lay a hand on her shoulder. Before he could touch her, though, she finally spoke up.

“Nasch… I’d like to see my brother. Please. If your intention is still to turn me into a Barian, then I… I’d like to see my brother first.” Avina asked, not wanting to look at him. She knew her heart couldn’t take it. The Emperor was silent for a moment before answering.

“Yes… I’ll send for him and Merag.” His deep and alien voice came, turning to nod at Dumon. He then turned back to Avina, unsure of what to say. He stood beside her, looking out at the garish landscape of his world. There was silence for a few moments before Avina spoke, her voice soft and hesitant.

“Will it hurt?” She asked, not looking at him. The Emperor was quiet, considering how to answer her question.

“It… It shouldn’t. I will do everything in my power to ensure it doesn’t but… I’m afraid I don’t know for certain. All of us became Barians after our deaths on Earth so… I can’t say for sure. But I promise you, I will do everything I can to make sure it doesn’t hurt.” He answered.

“Do you have to? Do you have do turn me? Do you have to do any of this? Ryouga, please… we… we can still go back. We can go back to Earth, we can help Yuma fight and we can return to our normal lives! It… it doesn’t have to be this way.” Avina pleaded softly, tears rolling down her cheeks. Nasch felt tears prick his own eyes too, but he refused to let them fall.

“I must, Avina. I’ve been shown my past. There are hundreds of souls here counting on me. They all had their lives cut short on Earth due to choices I made, they are my responsibility. They were brought here for a second chance, and it’s my job to lead them and protect them from all threats. They… they deserve to be happy and safe. I failed them in my first life, but I won’t in this life. Believe me, I wish it didn’t have to be this way, but Barian World can’t exist in peace when Astral World does. Our worlds are polar opposites, and as such we are bound to fight. We have to destroy them before they destroy us.” Nasch explained, and Avina turned to look at him.

Even though his face was the featureless mask of a Barian, she could see that strong resolve and dedication that her Ryouga had shining in his eyes. God… it really was him. That realization only broke the singer even more. She desperately wanted to stay with him, to help him and see him succeed, but she also didn’t want innocent people to die. Avina lowered her head and closed her eyes, her tears falling steadily. There was no way to win this… not really. She couldn’t convince him to trust Yuma, and she couldn’t stand by his side and let him beat Yuma. She wanted to scream. This was impossible! A gentle breeze stirred her hair, making her open her eyes… and look down.

There… there was only one option.

“Avina!”

The magenta haired girl turned, seeing her brother enter with Ri- with Merag, his attire similarly changed like hers. She ran to him, hugging him tightly and trying not to burst into tears.

“Vance! Thank God, are you okay? Are you hurt at all?” She asked, pulling back and looking him over. He chuckled sadly, shaking his head.

“Not physically but…” he trailed off, the pain evident in his eyes. He was suffering the same dilemma she was. Avina could only assume that whatever conversation he’d had with Merag, he’d come to the same revelation she had… that Merag and Rio really were one and the same… but there was no way that he could stay by her side.

“Vance… Vance I… I’ve been thinking. We can’t let this happen. We can’t become Barians, otherwise we’ll just become part of the problem. We can’t get in Yuma’s way. I know he and Astral have a plan, but if we let them turn us into Barians, all we’re gonna do is throw a giant wrench in those plans.” She murmured, making sure her voice was low enough that none of the Barians present would hear them. “I’ve… already made my choice. I’m gonna fly…” Avina whispered, glancing back toward the large archway

The open archway that overlooked a fatal drop down to the beach.

“I’m… I’m really sorry. I don’t want you to- I-I don’t know what else to do… you don’t have to follow-“ Avina started, her tears falling once more, but Vance stopped her.

“Hey… you… you don’t have to be sorry. Truthfully, I had made the same decision.” He whispered in reply, the pain agonizingly evident in his eyes. Avina hiccuped, hugging him again, holding on tightly. God… god, she didn’t want this. Not for Vance, not for her. She didn’t want to do this to Nasch or Merag. She wanted this whole stupid nightmare to end!

But it wouldn’t… not yet.

Avina extracted herself from her brother, sniffling. “I need to… say goodbye.” She murmured, Vance nodding in agreement. The two siblings went toward their significant other, reluctance in their every step. The pop star looked up at the purple visage of her beloved, reaching up to caress his stone cheek.

“Okay… I-I’ve made my choice. But first… can you please turn back into a human? Just for a moment s-so I can… say goodbye?” She asked. Nasch didn’t hesitate at all, shifting back into the human body of Ryouga Kamishiro. She hugged him tightly, kissing him with all the passion and desperation she had felt for him ever since they’d first met. In her heart and her mind, she said goodbye to the future she had always imagined for them. She said goodbye to her band, she said goodbye to their wedding, their children, their blissfully-wedded future. None of that would happen now… So she savored this moment. The safety of his embrace, the warmth of his lips. After what felt like both an eternity and less than a second, she pulled back, her forehead resting against his and her hands resting on his chest, feeling the pulse of his heart.

“Ryouga… Nasch… I know now that you are one and the same. You are both a champion duelist with many friends who care deeply for you, and a great leader who will protect those who follow him. You’re a man of dedication and passion… and that is what I fell in love with.” She murmured to him, looking up into his brilliant blue eyes.

“I love you. I will always love you.” Avina declared.

Then, she shoved him back with all of her might, catching him by surprise and managing to push him off his feet and away from her. In an instant, she turned, making a mad dash for the open archway, spotting Vance having done the same to Merag before running the same direction as her. She reached out her hand to him, the two siblings grasping at one another and bolting for the edge. Avina faintly heard Nasch roaring for someone to stop them while Merag screamed after Vance, though the sound was muffled by the pounding of blood in her ears.

The edge grew closer

And closer

And then the ground was gone.

And she was falling.

And she was screaming.

The wind whipped around them, but even over that plus her own screams and the blood still rushing in her ears, Avina heard one single word being cried by two voices.

”NOOOOO!!!!”

It seemed like she fell forever. Had the ground vanished? Was there a bottomless pit that she hadn’t seen? She could faintly see the heads of the Emperors watching in horror as the two humans plummeted down.

“N-Nas—“

And then… darkness.

When Avina opened her eyes again, she was on the beach of Barian World. She looked over, seeing her brother standing beside her, his figure startlingly transparent, almost like Astral looked except not blue. She looked down at her own hands to find them equally transparent. An agonized cry drew her attention up, and not far ahead of them, she saw Merag pounding on the chest of a slightly burned body.

Vance’s body.

The sound of a pained grunt followed by sorrowful weeping attracted her attention next, and she spotted Nasch coming up out of the bloody red waters of the Great Barian Sea, a body in his arms with skin reddened from the acidic water.

Her body.

They hadn’t hit the ground, they’d fallen right into the Barian Sea, thankfully dying on impact so they didn’t have to suffer the agony of the acid. But… but now they had to watch as the two people who they loved more than anything in the world mourned over their broken bodies.

Avina wept openly, and she heard Vance doing the same. She reached over, taking his hand, the two siblings weeping at the tragic scene.

”Fellow Lights… I am so sorry it came to this.” a strange, feminine voice said. Avina gasped and turned, spotting a group of five women approaching them. ”There is much that needs to be explained, and we will do so. Please… come with us. Things will make sense soon.” a lady with blond hair dressed in blue said, offering her hand to them. The siblings hesitated, looking at one another and glancing back at their Barian lovers.

”I understand your desire to stay… and I promise you, you won’t be parted from them for long… but right now, there is nothing you can do. Truths have been hidden from you, and you deserve to know about your past, as well as theirs. Let us help you… Together, we can free them from this agony, but in order to do so, you must understand the whole story.” The girl in a flowing purple skirt said, her lavender eyes imploring. Avina let out a shuddering sigh, looking back one more time at the sorrowful scene behind her.

“Nasch… I’m so sorry. I love you.”

Then, she and Vance turned, following the group of women into a glowing white light.

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sirsapling · 4 years

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